ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, FOR THE YEAR ENDING MAY 1, 1862. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, FOR THE YEAR 1861. Monthly Meeting, Thursday, January 3d, 1861.—Mr. P. PERIT, President, in the Chair. THE monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held January 3, at their rooms, corner of William and Cedar streets. The following gentlemen were elected members of the Chamber: Mr. WILLIAM NELSON was elected a member of the Committee of Arbitration, in place of Mr. S. D. BABCOCK. Mr. PROSPER M. WETMORE, from the delegation of the Chamber, appointed at the June meeting to attend the National Quarantine and Sanitary Convention at Boston, stated that he alone, of the six delegates appointed, attended the Convention. Another meeting of that Convention would be held in Cincinnati, in the month of May next. He offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Mr. ROYAL PHELPS, and adopted: Resolved, That the Committee on Quarantine inquire and report to the Chamber what legislation is necessary in regard to the question of Quarantine, as presented by the Governor in his annual message to the legislature. Mr. WETMORE's resolution was adopted. Mr. MATTHEW MAURY called the attention of the Chamber to the question of a time and weather observatory, saying that as neither the committee nor the Chamber had acted upon the measure which he had already proposed, he would ask for an appropriation of $200 to aid in the purchase of proper apparatus for testing chronometers, and offered a resolution to that effect, which was opposed by Messrs. MARSHALL, BLUNT and others, and was lost. Monthly Meeting, Thursday, February 7, 1861.-Mr. P. PERIT, President, in the Chair. The monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held February 7, at their rooms, corner of William and Cedar streets. The following gentlemen were elected members of the Chamber: EZRA R. GOODRIDGE, 24 Broad-street, 21 Broad-street, Nominated by THOMAS TILESTON. THOMAS T. SHEFFIELD. Mr. WILLIAM COTHEAL was elected a member of the Committee of Arbitration, in place of Mr. JOSHUA L. POPE. The President announced the reception from the Philadelphia Board of Trade of a report upon collisions at sea, and the report on other topics introduced by Mr. LINDSAY, M. P. It was referred to the committee of the Chamber upon the same subject. Mr. OPDYKE, from the Executive Committee, presented the following remonstrance against the passage of the tariff bill now before Congress, for the approval of the Chamber : CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, New-York, February 7, 1861. To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress convened: The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New-York respectfully represents, that the tariff bill now before the Senate is liable to the following grave objections: It proposes a radical change of policy on a subject of vital interest to commerce and every other branch of industry. It subordinates the question of revenue to the principle of protection, and it substitutes a complex system of specific and ad valorem duties for the present simple ad valorem system. A measure of such importance, and so liable to affect injuriously both commerce and the revenue, it is respectfully submitted, should only be made after careful investigation and mature deliberation. It seems but just that those whose interests are to be affected by it should have time to examine its provisions, ascertain its probable effects, and present their views to government. The 29th section of the bill virtually abolishes the warehousing system. As it passed the House of Representatives, it cuts down the time within which foreign goods entered for warehousing, may be withdrawn for domestic consumption, from three years to thirty days, leaving the right to export unrestricted as to time. As modified by the Committee of the Senate, the duty on all goods warehoused must be paid within ninety days from the time of deposit, and unless they are exported within six months thereafter, the duties will not be refunded. If either of these propositions shall be adopted, the object for which the warehousing system was established will be defeated and its usefulness destroyed. The first excludes warehoused goods from the home market after thirty days, the second, in effect, expels them from warehouse after ninety days, because it requires the payment of duties within that time, and it absolutely excludes them from the foreign market after nine months, by depriving them of the right of drawback. The warehousing system was intended to promote the commerce of the United States, by enabling our chief commercial cities to invite trade from other countries by presenting for sale, free from government charges, the products of all other countries, as well as of our own. This our merchants can do with safety and profit, only by having perfect freedom to choose between the home and foreign markets, as well as freedom to select their own time in which to effect sales. Experience has demonstrated that the present system is well adapted to secure the end its authors designed. It has been in successful operation for fourteen years, and has proved to be a valuable auxiliary to our foreign commerce. Without detriment to the public revenue or to any other interest, it has enabled New-York and other Atlantic cities to prosecute a profitable and growing trade in foreign goods with Canada, Mexico, Cuba and South America, and thereby to increase the vent for the products of our own country. It has afforded like facilities to the merchants of San Francisco for extending their trade with neighboring nations on the Pacific. In fact, this system is rapidly converting New-York and San Francisco into the chief entrepôts of the commerce of this continent and the adjacent islands, with a fair prospect of including, at no distant day, that of Japan and China. Adopt either of the modifications proposed, and these advantages are lost. Your remonstrants will not believe that Congress is prepared to make such a wanton sacrifice of a valued foreign trade, especially at a time when the commercial interests of the country are seriously depressed by other causes. Another objection to this bill is to be found in the intricate system of double duties which it proposes to establish. It must largely augment the cost of collecting the revenue, by requiring additional numbers of weighers, measurers, appraisers and clerks, and, at the same time, subject the importer to vexatious delay in passing his goods. The duties proposed in this bill embrace a wide range of rates. As it passed the House of Representatives the charges are in many cases so high as to amount to prohibition. On blankets, pilot cloths, cassimeres, broadcloths, cotton fabrics, and many other articles, the rates of duty, as compounded of the specific and ad valorem charges, range from 20 per cent. to rising 100 per cent. The modifications proposed by the Senate bring these extremes nearer together, by a moderate reduction of the higher rates; but on many articles they remain so high that they amount to a virtual prohibition. If it becomes a law it can scarcely fail to exercise a depressive influence on our foreign commerce, and thus impair the source of public revenue. While the measure will thus diminish the revenue, cripple commerce, and sadly mar its prosperity, it may well be doubted if it will prove beneficial to the manufacturing interest. It will so enhance the cost of many articles of general consumption, and especially those consumed by the poor, which in many cases it taxes highest, that early and persistent efforts to secure its repeal may be confidently expected. These efforts will be seconded by the mercantile interest, and strengthened by a growing sentiment both here and in Europe in favor of further relaxations in the shackles of trade. Thus the manufacturers will be deterred from erecting new mills and machinery to meet any enlarged demands for their products which the adoption of this measure may produce, lest it should be repealed or modified before their completion. Again: This measure is known to be obnoxious to the Southern States. To pass it when a part of them are not represented in Congress could scarcely fail to widen the existing breach, and present a new and serious obstacle to reconciliation. There are other reasons why the present time seems to be most inauspicious for making such a radical change in the tariff policy of the country. The public Treasury is empty and the national credit impaired. These facts indicate the neces sity of devising means to increase the revenue. The adoption of this measure will certainly lessen it by diminishing the imports. The responsibility of administering the government is soon to be transferred to other hands. It seems due to the people, and to those whom they have just chosen to conduct the government, that this subject should be postponed until the new administration is formed, and has had time to deliberate maturely on the line of policy it will adopt in relation to revenue and protection. It is only in this way that it can hope to devise a measure that will prove satisfactory to the people, by so adjusting the scale of duties that it will bear equally on every interest and class. For these and other reasons that might be adduced, your remonstrants respectfully but earnestly ask that this bill may not become a law. The memorial was debated by Messrs. J. DE PEYSTER OGDEN, OPDYKE, Low and ROYAL PHELPS. The memorial was adopted, with a resolution instructing its transmission to both Houses of Congress, and the appointment of a committee of five to go to Washington and present the objections to the bill now pending. The President appointed a committee consisting of Messrs. OPDYKE, MALI, C. H. MARSHALL, J. J. PHELPS and D. DUER. Mr. J. DE PEYSTER OGDEN moved to instruct the committee of the Chamber, previously appointed, to petition the legislature to grant additional powers to the Arbitration Committee of the Chamber. The resolution was adopted. Capt. NYE presented a majority report from the Committee on the Coasting Trade, signed by four members. Mr. NELSON, from the same committee, presented a minority report. Both reports were ordered to be laid on the table and printed. There Mr. WETMORE reminded the chairman of the Committee on Quarantine that some action should be taken by that committee at once. were two bills pending before the legislature, materially affecting the subject, and by the next meeting of the Chamber it would be too late for the committee to act. A resolution was adopted, authorizing the Committee on Quarantine to act upon the subject as might seem necessary. Monthly Meeting, Thursday, March 7, 1861.-Mr. P. PERIT, President, in the Chair. The monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held March 7, at their rooms, corner of William and Cedar streets. The following gentlemen were elected members of the Chamber: ROBERT BELLONI, SAMUEL MCLEAN, 50 Wall-street, 104 Wall-street, South, cor. Clinton-st., WILLIAM MACNAUGHTON, 52 Cedar-street, JOSEPH P. PIRSSON, 5 Wall-street, 53 Park Place, 264 Broadway, 41 Front-street, JOHN H. LYell. DAVID OGDEN. JOHN H. Lyell. GEORGE B. GRINNELL. Mr. THEODORE DEHON was elected a member of the Committee of Arbitration, in the place of Mr. ROBERT B. MINTURN, whose term had expired. Mr. OPDYKE, on behalf of the Committee on Quarantine, asked for authority for the committee to prepare a remonstrance against such of the provisions of a bill relating to quarantine, now pending before the legislature, as relate to regulations to be imposed upon vessels entering or leaving port. Mr. OPDYKE, from the committee of the Chamber appointed to go to Washington to remonstrate against the passage of the MORRILL tariff bill, reported that they had conferred with the Congressional committee upon that subject, and that many of the provisions of the bill, particularly those relating to the warehouse system, had been modified, and the bill thereby materially improved. He thought, however, that the bill, even in its present shape, would not be satisfactory to the commercial public, and demands further modification. Capt. NYE, in behalf of the committee appointed to confer on the priety of opening the coasting trade of the United States to British ships, in exchange for a similar privilege to American ships in British waters, presented the following report: REPORT OF THE MAJORITY, FEBRUARY 7, 1861. Your committee, in their investigation of the subjects referred to them, find the following clause in the Constitution of the United States: "No preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce or revenue, to the ports of one State over those of another," which the intervening coasts of foreign nations does not invalidate. This limits their inquiries to the policy of opening the coasting trade, the trade of the lakes, and the registration of foreign ships. It does not appear to your committee that any act of reciprocity offered by Great Britain would compensate us for sharing with her our great and rapidly increas ing coasting trade, augmenting annually about 100,000 tons. They believe that our interests demand we should cherish this trade, and establish our own system, irrespective of those of other nations. With our fishing and whaling it furnishes our principal schools for training native seamen, the number of whom is unfortunately steadily decreasing. The vast extent of our coast, the facilities for transportation on our railways, daily increasing the rapidly developing resources of our great interior, render it difficult to over-estimate the importance of retaining the control of our coasting trade. In opening the lake trade we should have much to lose and little to gain. Mr. LINDSAY truly says, "the ship-owner is a mere carrier, and does not create trade; the trade must be created for him.' Now we have the lion's share of the trade on the lakes, sufficient tonnage to carry it on, with abundant material for its increase when required. Lake Michigan is exclusively an American lake; the trade at the present time is equal to, if not greater, than all the Canadian shore of the other lakes. And when we look at the number of miles of rail-roads, bringing to the shores of this lake the product of millions of acres of the richest land, a small portion only under cultivation, who can calculate the future value of the trade of this lake? Turning to lake Superior, we find her large and increasing trade almost entirely confined to the American shore, while the Canadian remains a wilderness little known, except to the hunter, fisherman and excursionist. Some idea of the importance of the trade of this lake may be formed from the fact, that 200,000 tons of iron ore were shipped during the past year, not to enumerate pig iron, copper, or the large amount of return freight. On the subject of granting registers to British or foreign ships, your committee believe the result would be the introduction of inferior British-American and iron ships, the latter being particularly undesirable from the difficulty of ascertaining |