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form of gold and silver coin or bullion, is stated at about thirty millions of pounds, and is equal to the product of the nation for thirty-five days. The usual average amount of circulating notes is about twenty-eight millions, but as a considerable sum is constantly retained by the private and jointstock banks in notes of the Bank of England, the nett circulation in the hands of the public cannot exceed twenty-six millions, equal to the product of ten days. No notes are permitted under five pounds, equal to twenty-four dollars and three cents.

In SCOTLAND, one pound notes are permitted to be circulated. The whole system has always been more free and less expensive than that of England, and its steadiness has been proportioned to its freedom.

In the SOUTHERN STATES, no notes are permitted under five dollars. The specie required amounts to, probably, nine days' production.

In PENNSYLVANIA, no notes under five dollars are permitted, while in New York and New Jersey, notes of one dollar are, and were at the date of our statement, permitted. The quantity of specie used amounts to little more than four days' product.

We do not undertake to show what is the proportion which the circulating notes employed in the various parts of the Union above referred to bears to the product, because of the difficulty of determining with any accuracy the amount thereof. That of the local banks is readily ascertained, but it is not easy to ascertain the distribution of that furnished by the Bank of the United States in the different states, in all of which, south of New England, it was considerable.

In every state of NEW ENGLAND, notes of one dollar are used, and coin is required only for the payment of fractions of that sum. The product of these states may be taken at two hundred and fifty millions of dollars. The whole quantity of coin upon which their system is based, is but about two and a half millions of dollars, being the product of about three days' labor. The gross amount of the circulation of their 169 banks in 1830, was eight millions nine hundred thousand dollars. Deducting the amount on hand in the various banks, the actual quantity circulating with the public cannot have exceeded eight millions, or about ten days' product.

The one institution in France, issuing no note of less amount than about one hundred dollars, maintains a circulation as large in proportion to the productive power of the nation, as do all those of England, issuing notes of twenty-four dollars-in all those of New England, which furnish the medium used in all exchanges down to a single dollar; and if we take into consideration the number of exchanges performed, we shall see that the circulating notes of France bear a vastly larger proportion thereto than exists in New England.

When production is very smell, as is the case in the former, the return to both laborer and capital is so, and the chief part of the product is consumed by the little capitalist and the laborer, in the form in which it is produced; but, when it is large, they exchange a large portion of it. The man who obtains, in return for a week's labor, the equivalent of two bushels of wheat, will hardly have a gallon per week to exchange for clothing; whereas he who obtains six bushels, may consume three bushels, and have as much more to exchange for clothing or groceries, or for ploughs, horses, and cattle, to increase his stock to aid in the further extension of production. We have little doubt that the exchanges of New England are six times greater in proportion to the product than those of France; and if so,

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the proportion which circulating notes of all descriptions bear to the busi ness performed is only one sixth as great.

When, however, we regard the fact that no payment less in amount than five hundred francs can be made with a note of the Bank of France, while every payment exceeding five francs may be made with notes of the banks of New England, the disproportion becomes vastly greater. Were we to suppress in the latter all notes under one hundred dollars, the circulation would be at once reduced to less than two millions of dollars, or one fortieth of the annual product, and, perhaps, to a fiftieth or a sixtieth thereof. The single Bank of France is therefore enabled to maintain a circulation at least twenty-four times greater in proportion to the business for the performance of which its notes are used, than is maintained of paper of a similar description by all the banks of New England.

It is commonly supposed that increase in the number of banks must be attended with an increase in the gross circulation; whereas, it can readily be shown that every increase in the facilities of exchange, by the opening of new shops for the purpose of trading in money, must be attended with a diminution in the amount that can be maintained. The reader may readily satisfy himself that no increase in the number of banks will induce him to carry about his person a larger number of bank notes than he has been accustomed to do. If, by any such increase, he is enabled more readily to obtain the use of money, he will withdraw only so much as is necessary for his purposes, and at the next moment the person to whom it is paid will return it to the bank for safe keeping. The circulation is, as we have endeavored to show, almost a constant quantity, tending, however, to reduction in quantity with every increase in the facilities of trade.

Were the reader distant fifty miles from a bank, he would, probably, transact his business with it once in a month. When he went there, he would find it necessary to provide himself with as much of the medium of exchange as would render it unnecessary for him to visit it again for three or four weeks to come. He would have always in his house bank notes to the amount of one, two, three, or four hundred dollars, to the advantage of the bank, and to his own disadvantage. Another of our readers is distant ten miles from a bank. He transacts his business with it every week, and is not required to keep on hand more money than is necessary for that period. Another is distant a single mile. He visits it three times a week, and requires no more notes than will serve his purposes for two days. Others of our readers have the money shop within a stone's throw of them. They transact their business with it every day at a little before the hour of closing, and deposit for safe keeping all the money they have received, because, with the return of business hours, they can withdraw whatever amount is required. The nearer the trader is to the bank, the smaller is the amount of circulating notes that he will use; and the more distant, the larger must it be. A man in a country town, distant fifty miles from a bank, will retain on hand bank notes a thousand times greater in proportion to the amount of his trade than a merchant in Philadelphia, New York, or Boston, who is surrounded by banks, and who scarcely finds it necessary to use either notes or specie, except in payment of his household expenses.

The Bank of France enjoys a monopoly, and is thereby enabled to maintain a large circulation-larger by far, in proportion to the uses for which it is required, than can be maintained in either England or the

United States. It does this for the advantage of the few, to the disadvantage of the many, who are obliged to pay interest on large sums that would not be required under a different system. In New England, the advantage of the many is promoted by a system which diminishes to the smallest possible sum the quantity of the medium of exchange used in the performance of exchanges. Were there in those states but a single bank, it could, and would, maintain a circulation double the amount of that now existing, because individuals distant from it would be obliged to retain on hand, to meet their demands, three, five, or ten times as much as is needed when the money shop is close at hand.

The people of several of these countries, being deprived of the right of selecting their own medium of exchange, are compelled to use that which is more costly, and are thus prevented from otherwise applying their capi. tal in aid of their labor. It will be obvious to the reader that every increase in the amount of capital required for effecting exchanges, must be attended with a diminution in that which can be applied to production. The amount of coin employed by the several nations is, therefore, in the inverse ratio of their productive power.

FRANCE retains, in the form of gold and silver, capital that
would require for its production the labor of

ENGLAND,

THE SOUTHERN States,

THE MIDDLE STATES,

While NEW ENGLAND retains only that of

129 days.

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Nothing is more common than the assumption that the United States are remarkable for excess of currency, yet in no country are the operations of the community carried on with so small an amount thereof; and in no part of the United States is the quantity so small as in New Eng. land, where every village has its money shop, and every neighborhood provides its own medium of exchange.

We shall now proceed to inquire into the amount of the currency of the several nations, and doubt not we shall be able to satisfy the reader that unsteadiness and a large amount of unproductive capital go together-that the nearest approach to perfect steadiness is to be found where the people are most free to exercise their own judgment, and where, consequently, the medium of exchange is that which is least costly-and that they will be prepared to admit it as a law, universally true, that—

The more perfect the facility of performing exchanges, the smaller is the quantity of the medium of exchange that can be kept in circulation—the smaller must be the currency-and the more perfect must be its steadiness.

* In a recent English journal we have remarked, among some comments upon American banks, that "the small amount of their circulation, when compared with their capitals," is deemed "a suspicious circumstance." The banks of the United States, as we shall have occasion to show, overtrade far less than those of Europe. Europeans, who undertake to notice their proceedings, are at a loss to understand how they should ever be in difficulty with so small an amount of liabilities; yet, if we were to judge of their proceedings by the remarks of some of our "learned Thebans," we should suppose that in no country did they overtrade so much. We hear a perpetual outcry about the excessive use of paper money, and the necessity for substituting specie for bank notes, that wages may be reduced to the rate of France, from men who, from their stations and great pretensions, should be better informed.

ART. V.-DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE.

DEASE AND SIMPSON'S ARCTIC LAND EXPEDITION.

In the year of our Lord 1062, just four years before the battle of Hastings changed the laws, the language, and the destinies of France and England, and, with them, those of the world, North America was discovered and colonized by the Norwegians, who appear to have coasted as far south as the Bay of Fundy certainly, and probably even to Massachusetts Bay. We make some allowance for the poetical fervor of the people who gave the name of Green-land to a sterile waste of ice, where brandy freezes by the fireside, and nothing green but moss was ever seen. Still, when they assert they found grapes in the country they call Wineland, as they left behind them accurate descriptions of the Esquimaux and other natives, such as they are found at the present day, there is no reason to deny them the honor of being the original discoverers. The Norwegian colony, however, was early lost; its story existed but as a vague tradition, and no way detracts from the glory of Columbus and Cabot. From that time till the year 1818, nothing was learned of that region likely materially to affect the interests of mankind.

In 1618, William Baffin discovered and explored the inland sea that now bears his name, though its very existence was long discredited, and the narrative of his voyage was treated as a fable till his veracity was duly attested by Captain Ross. His name was even expunged from the maps. Rather more than a century after, Behring's Strait was passed, and the separation of the two continents in the west ascertained. Hearne reached the mouth of the Coppermine River in 1772, and McKenzie the mouth of McKenzie's River, twenty-one years later. These four points, then, were all that was known of the shore of the American Arctic Ocean; and no benefit resulted from that little, if we except the settlement of Hudson's Bay, till the recent explorations of Ross, Parry, Franklin, Beechy, and, though last, not least, of Dease and Simpson. Let the reader read what follows with the best map he can procure before him. It will be necessary to a correct understanding of the premises.

In 1818, Sir John Ross ascertained that the barrier of ice which closes Baffin's Bay was penetrable, circumnavigated that great inland sea, and opened a new ocean to the whale fishery, which has already been of great benefit to Great Britain. He also invented an instrument for sounding the depths of the ocean, and discovered a people of fishermen who pursued their avocation without boats, or the use or knowledge of iron or other metals, in a climate where the sun has scarce power to shine, and the very brutes are yearly obliged to emigrate. These people knew no others, considered themselves the only men on earth, knew scarcely a comfort, and yet they were contented and happy. More than two thousand miles of coast were restored to our knowledge of geography; and all this, one would suppose, was enough to entitle the gallant officer to the gratitude of the people he represented; but it was not so. He did not do all that it was possible to have done, as subsequent experience has demonstrated. He did not see that there was an open passage into Lancaster's Sound, or enter it; and hence he suffered a temporary disgrace. It was alleged that his officers were more clear-sighted than himself, and hence he lost the confidence of

his government, was not employed again, and suffered an obloquy which his subsequent unexampled energy, hardihood, and daring, were scarcely suffi. cient to remove. The comparative success of Sir Edward Parry, his successor in command, overshadowed him like a cloud; but, sweet are the uses of adversity-his wrongs impelled him to exertions, which have put him above the reach of calumny. He thus modestly defends himself against the aspersions cast upon him:

"He," (Captain Parry,)" could not have believed that there was a passage through Lancaster's Sound, or he would have told me that he thought so; for it would be to suppose him capable of gross misconduct, were I to imagine that my second in command suppressed any opinion that could concern the duty in which we were both engaged." Captain Ross is decidedly right in his position, and exempts himself from all blame that must not be shared by every man under his command. We are therefore to believe that no part of the vituperation of the English periodical press emanated from any of the officers of the Isabella, directly or indirectly. The contrary opinion is too disgraceful to them as subjects, officers, and men, to be entertained for a moment. At the worst, Captain Ross's fault was but an error in judgment and worse can be alleged against even the immortal Cook.

Nevertheless, it does appear, notwithstanding his own rejection of the idea, his promotion, and the disavowal of any intent to blame him, made by the Admiralty, (after his subsequent triumphant success) that Captain Ross did lose the confidence of his government; for he was not employed to command the next arctic expedition. That trust was confided to Sir Edward Parry, than whom no abler navigator could have been found, though it was well known to the whole civilized world, that it was the object of the keenest desire to the unfortunate Ross. If the reader will follow Sir Edward Parry's course on the map, he will see that he penetrated Lancaster's Sound to 113 deg. west longitude, and received the reward promised by parliament for that achievement. He was there stopped by the ice. The results of his expedition were the ascertainment of the impracticability of any passage in that direction, of the probable separation of the great continent of Greenland from the American main, of the existence of a vast tract of land towards, and probably to the North Pole, and of Prince Regent's Inlet, through which it was hoped and believed that the long-sought passage might be found, and which subsequent experience has demonstrated to be the true Strait of Anian. He established the fact of human existence in latitudes where it had been believed an impossibility; he made various valuable observations on the northern lights, and guessed correctly the true position of the magnetic pole. Such improvements were made in the mode of wintering in high latitudes, as cannot fail to be of vast importance to the future preservation of human life. This advantage alone, in our estimation, amply repays the expenses of all voyages of discovery past and future. Moreover, an abundance of ornithological, piscatory, and animal life was discovered in those regions, which may be of great future advantage to British commerce; nay, must.

In 1820-21, Franklin made his first unhappy, but sublime journey down the Coppermine to the ocean, established the veracity of Hearne, which was before doubted, and traced the coast eastwardly to Point Turnagain. He also guessed the position of the magnetic pole, and made valuable discoveries in every department of natural science.

In Parry's second voyage, he discovered Melville Peninsula, and the Strait

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