From February 13, 1838, to May 16, 1839, (95 days to run)........ 66 66 January 23, 1840, to October 15, 1840, on 65 day bills.... June 3, 1841, to April 7, 1842, April 7, 1842, to September 5, 1844, 66 September 5, 1844, to March 13, 1845, on bills.... 66 46 March 13, 1845, to October 16, 1845, minimum rate... 46 66 ......... 66 51 66 BANK NOTES INVENTED BY THE CHINESE. 34 The learned orientalist, Klaproth, in his " Memoirs relative to Asia," gives a curious and interesting account of the origin of paper-money, which he traces to the Chinese.* It must be premised, that the Chinese annals are more complete than those of any other nation, because the keeping of them has always been a State affair, and not left to the industry of private individuals; and from these authentic records Klaproth translates the following facts:-The earliest trace of a currency having a nominal instead of a real value, occurs during the reign of the emperor Ou-ti, in the year 119 before the Christian era. It appears that the treasury of that sovereign got into so low a condition, that the expenses of the State exceeded its revenues. He was fortunate, however, in the services of a financial minister, whose genius planned and executed a system of nominal currency. This consisted of pieces of deer-skin, about a foot square, ornamented with paintings and highly-wrought borders. These represented the value of 40,000 deniers, (about $58,) but were only current amongst the grandees and at court. Out of them a revenue was collected in a manner characteristic of the people:-from time immemorial, every person who is admitted into the presence of the "Son of Heaven" covers his face with a screen, or small tablet, for he is supposed to be quite unable to bear the blazing light of the emperor's countenance; and, at the time we refer to, whoever was honored with invitations to his repasts and entertainments, was obliged to cover his screen with one of these phi-pi, or "value in skins," which he was condescendingly allowed to leave behind him. This plan, once set on foot, appears to have been often followed in after years. We find be tween, and for some time subsequently to, the years 605-617, disorder prevalent in China to such an extent, that the country was nearly without a coinage, and all sorts of things were used as money-such as round pieces of iron, clothes cut up, and even pieces of pasteboard; but it is not till nearly three centuries after, that the history of regular papermoney commences. Hian-tsoung, of the Thang dynasty, whose reign commenced A. D. 807, was the founder of banks of deposit and issue; for he obliged rich families and merchants who arrived in the capital to deposit their valuables and goods in the public treasuries, for which paper receipts or acknowledgments were given, and made current under the name of fey-thsian, or "voluntary money." Thai-tson, who reigned in 960, adopted the same plan. Between the years 997 and 1022, we find that the paper-money system was established * "Sur l'Origine du Papier-Monnie."-Memoires Relatifs a l'Asie, par M. J. Klaproth, vol. ii., p. 375. in China, such as is at present followed in Europe-that is to say, the issue of credit pa. pers as currency, without being guaranteed by any substantial pledge or mortgage whatever. These primitive bank-notes were called tchi-tsi, or "coupons." From that time to the present, bank-notes have been in use in China under various names-those current at present being called pao-tchhao, or "precious paper-money." Thus the Chinese have had a banking system, with all its attendant advantages and evils, in full operation at a far earlier period than any other nation; and bankrupts, forgers, and monetary crises, have been rife in China for ages. We learn from Gutzlaff* that, a few years ago, some new financial arrangements were made, with a view to putting the paper currency on a better footing, but they were much impeded by a low state of public and private credit. Banks, both of deposit and issue, exist in every large Chinese town, conducted by companies or private individuals, who issue pian-thsian, or cheques--the "precious papermoney" being only circulated by the government. Bills of Exchange are not very often used, on account of a prevalent bad faith in commercial transactions. De Gulgnes, in his work on China, gives an engraving of a Chinese bank-note. It is a square paper, having on one side an inscription which states the amount it is issued for, (1,000 deniers, or "cash,") and that it is a note of the emperor Zong-King, of the Ming dynasty. On the other side, the Chinese equivalent of the following sentence is printed:At the petition of the treasury board, it is ordained that the paper-money thus marked with the seal of the imperial dynasty of the Mings, shall have currency, and be used in all respects as if it were copper-money. Whoever disobeys, will be beheaded!" The researches, then, of M. Klaproth prove that, besides the discovery of the properties of the magnet, the invention of writing materials, printing, and gunpowder, we owe to the Chinese the basis of our present system of bank.notes and banking.† COINAGE OF THE DUTCH MINT. The Dutch Mint have published a notice of the number and amount of coins struck off for the account of the state during the course of 1847. The descriptions of coins struck off are as follows: 9,387,175 rix dollars, or pieces of 2 florins, amount to............ 8,385,519 florin pieces..... 1,100,882 half florins... 2,001,000 half cents..... Total florins..... 23,467,937 8,385,519 550,441 10,005 32,413,902 On and after the 12th of March, the old coins were to cease from circulation, and will no longer be taken at the public offices, neither can any one be bound to accept them in payments. LEGACY DUTIES PAID IN GREAT BRITAIN. A statement of the legacy duties paid in Great Britain, for the year 1847, shows the total amount of capital which became liable to this tax to have been £43,611,642, being nearly one million in excess of the capital taxed in the preceding year, when it was £42,630,687. Of this amount, the portion which paid the duty of one per cent, the bequests being to children or parents, was £22,234,885; the portion which paid three per cent, for bequests to brothers or sisters, was £14,274,321; the portion at five per cent, to uncles and cousins, £1,842,168; that at six per cent, to other more distant relations, £285,155; and that at ten per cent to strangers, £4,883,375, or about a ninth part of the whole. The average capital on which legacy duty has been paid during the last half century is £28,513,237 per annum. BRITISH STAMP DUTY. STAMP DUTIES, &c.-The gross produce of stamp duties, land and assessed taxes, and property tax, in 1847, was £17,524,669; of which £7,282,273 was from stamp duties, £4,479,943 from land and assessed taxes, and £5,762,453 from property and income tax. In England, in 1847, the net receipts on stamp duty on newspapers and supplements advertisements, £133,567, which is the largest sum paid on advertisements in the last fifteen years, with the exception of 1833, when it amounted to £137,122. China Opened, vol. ii. + Chambers' Journal, Edinburgh, 1848 COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF BRAZIL. WE give below several tables of the commerce and navigation of Brazil, prepared from official documents for the Merchants' Magazine by L. H. F. D'AGUIAR, the Consul General of Brazil to the United States; to whom, also, we are indebted for a statement of the debt, expenses, and revenue of that empire, which will be found under our "Journal of Banking, Currency, and Finance," in the present number of this Magazine. The Brazilian government possess in Mr. Aguiar an intelligent and efficient representative of the interests of that empire, and the citizens of New York a courteous and worthy resident. No foreign government is more acceptably represented here. In the following table we have the value of the principal imports into Brazil, in the currency of that country, for the years 1843-44 and 1844-45: STATISTICAL VIEW OF THE COMMERCE OF BRAZIL, EXHIBITING THE VALUE OF EXPORTS AND IN Countries. G. Britain and col.. Italy....... Austrian ports...... Pacific, ports on.... Baltic, ports on........... Holland Denmark. East Indies... Sweden & Norway Russia Prussia... Sicily Sardinia........ Turkey..... ..... PORTS. YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1844. Exports. YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1845. Imports. Exports. 29,502: 705,836 10,546:876,489 30,503:430,156 11.306:847,987 6,976:210,182 2,671: 368,646 7,441:342,993 2,462:116,380 6,551:424,861 10,928:201,654 5,703:780,194 9.210:313,227 4,369:552,059 4,097:143,108 4,552:409,663 4,216:262,975 3,174:545,786 2.725:82.068 4,844:389,509 2,351:913,447 1,711: 688,414 2,427:945,967 2,565: 399,647 657: 931,077 198:075.526 300: 830,001 125:769,567 841: 695,097 1,124:948,597 346: 686,123 487:163.085 169:455,850 328:051,487 1,072:788,528 193: 791,920 Not specified....... 353: 208,211 1,053:364,374 1,111:193,982 2,096:740,117 Total............ 55,289: 342,527 43,800: 283,526 57,228:019,580 47,054: 397,940 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, AND DUTIES ON BOTH, OF BRAZIL IN 1844 AND 1845. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, AND DUTIES ON BOTH, OF BRAZIL IN 1844 AND 1845-CONTÍNUED. 31,007: 702,354 22,599:321,394 9.467:010,974 Bahia......... 8,957:257,564 6,602:011,716 2,862:885,608 2,256: 184,442 769: 720,186 388: 599,216 1,626:171,929 212: 697,466 76: 442,675 111: 355,298 58:636,871 84: 659,782 26:733,949 4:983,794 18:917,785 925: 127,120 787,140 234: 206,900 141,265 4:326,735 6:218,647 592,630 4:525,174 1:200,000 1: 644,000 1:564,565 1,714: 848,496 Total...... Duties received on.... 57,223:019,580 47,054:397,940 14,812: 156,354 4,036: 370,424 18,848: 526,778 BRAZILIAN SHIPPING REGISTERED AT THE PORT OF RIO JANEIRO, INCLUDING COASTWISE. The receipts of wool annually increase, and yet the price is well maintained. For the last three years the quantity which arrived at tide-water from the Erie Canal has been as follows, distinguishing that corning from other States: |