The subject of a change in the coinage of the country is one of very great importance, and involves consequences which require the most serious consideration and deliberate action. That the present relative value of our gold and silver coin requires some change there can be little doubt; and I have therefore deemed it my duty to bring the subject to the notice of Congress.

The great increase in the amount of bullion which now comes to the United States for coinage, compared with former times, seems to require the establishment of branches to the mint at those points where the largest amount of bullion and foreign coin is received. Any transportation of those articles beyond the places where they are produced, or received from abroad, is attended with delay, risk, and expense, which should be avoided, if possible, without too great expense to the government.

The State of California is now producing gold dust certainly equal in amount to seventy-five millions of dollars, and probably equal to one hundred millions of dollars a year. The information in possession of this department warrants the opinion that this product will not be diminished in amount for many years to come.

The distance from San Francisco, by way of the Isthmus of Panama and New York, to the Mint at Philadelphia is about 6,250 miles. The precious metals there found have, therefore, to be transported that distance and back, at great risk and expense, before the owner can receive its equivalent in the legal coin of the United States. Such a burdensome tax upon the interests of California should be removed by the establishment of a branch mint at the most eligible point in that State.

Nearly all the importations of specie and bullion concentrate at the port of New York; two-thirds of all the customs duties collected in the country are there paid in specie. Sound policy demands that at that great commercial and financial center a branch mint should be established, which should be the custodian of the large amount of public moneys there collected, and which will enable foreign coin and bullion to be converted most speedily into our own currency, without the risk, delay, and expense of transportation to any other point.

It is believed that the establishment of such an institution at that point would not charge much additional annual expense upon the Treasury. The treasurer thereof would supersede the office of assistant treasurer. The branch mints at Dahlonega, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, may be converted into assay offices, whereby several superfluous officers might be dispensed with. The deposits of bullion at those establishments have been regularly declining, without any decrease in the annual expenses. The transportation from thence of bars and ingots, the values of which would be attested by government assayers, would be easily effected at little risk or expense. For these and other reasons, heretofore expressed by my predecessors, I earnestly recommend the immediate establishment of branch mints at New York and San Francisco, and the discontinuance of those in North Carolina and Georgia as mints for coinage, retaining them as assay offices, under such regulations, as to the number of offices, &c., as Congress may deem proper.

The expenses of the mint and branches have of course greatly increased since the accession of California, and will be still further augmented in case Congress should determine to establish the two additional branches at San Francisco and New York. I would, therefore, suggest for the consideration of Congress the propriety of authorizing a small seigniorage on the bullion deposited by corporations or individuals for the purpose of covering the actual expenses of coinage, instead of allowing the latter to remain as an exclusive charge upon the Treasury. This, it is believed, is the universal usage at all other national mints, and the charge would be but a mere fractional per centage, amounting only to a very few cents per ounce.

This department is now required by law to submit annually to Congress the mint assays of certain foreign coins; and it is recommended that this requirement be ex tended so as to embrace annual assays of the coins of those foreign countries with which the United States have any considerable commercial intercourse, and that an appropriation not exceeding one thousand dollars be made to defray the annual expense of procuring such foreign coin as can only be obtained from abroad.

Invoices of merchandise imported from foreign countries, and subject to ad valorem duties, are required by our existing revenue laws to be made out in the currency of the country whence the shipment is made, and the value which such currency shall have in computations at our custom-houses has from time to time, in respect to several foreign countries, been prescribed by specific laws.

The President of the United States is authorized by the sixty-first section of the act of 1799 to establish fit and proper regulations for estimating duties on imported

merchandise, the original cost of which shall be exhibited in depreciated currency issued and circulated under the authority of any foreign government. In the execution of this power, consuls of the United States are required to certify on invoices of merchandise shipped from the countries of their residence and made out in depreciated currency, or in a currency the value of which is not fixed by our laws, the value of such currency in Spanish or United States silver dollars. It is obvious, however, so far as the foreign currency consists of coin, that the most accurate and reliable method of ascertaining its value, as compared with our own, is by an actual assay at the Mint. While the results of such annual assays will place within the power of the President the best means of performing the duty of establishing fit and proper regulations on the subject, they will also enable Congress to revise and correct, from time to time, by further legislation, the values in custom-house receipts and computations of the foreign coins already fixed and regulated by our laws. It is to be observed that the proceeds of the coins thus procured will, after assay, be returned to the treasury, and carried to the credit of said appropriation for subsequent disbursement in like manner. It will therefore be reduced only by the expense of transmitting the coin from abroad and the loss consequent upon their assay.

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.

CUSTOM REGULATIONS OF SHANGHAI.

1ST. REPORTING OF SHIPS ON ARRIVAL. As soon as a vessel arrives in port she must as heretofore be reported in accordance with the treaty, through the intervention of the consul. The consignee of the ship will then apply to the custom-house for a written permit to open the hold and land her goods, and should the hatches be opened before the delivery of such permit, the consul will, as soon as it is discovered, be requested to inflict the penalties by treaty provided, and the goods thus illegally landed or transhipped shall all be confiscated.

2D. SEPARATE REPORT OF IMPORT GOODS BY EACH CONSIGNEE. After the permit to open the hatches has been delivered to the consignee of the vessel, each of the several consignees of the cargo will hand in to the custom-house a written note specifying the number of packages, contents and such like particulars, when a permit in writing shall be delivered to the party so reporting, on which the goods may be landed. And if any goods be discovered landed or transhipped without such written authority, or any discrepancy be found between the quantities landed and those specified in the notice and permit. the whole of such goods shall be confiscated.

3D. REPORT OF EXPORT GOODS BY CONSIGNEES. The reporting of export goods at the custom-house shall be transacted in the same manner as that of import cargoes. A permit to load having previously been applied for and received by the consignees of the vessel, each individual shipper will then hand into the custom-house a written notice specifying the nature of produce, number of packages, and such like particulars, when a permit in writing will be delivered to him on which to make the shipment. If any goods be discovered being shipped without such permit, or discrepancy be found between the nature and quantity shipped and that recorded on the permit, the whole of the goods thus irregularly shipped shall be confiscated.

4TH REPORTING A VESSEL OUTWARDS. When the loading of a vessel is completed the consignee of the ship will hand in to the custom-house a written manifest of the outward cargo, particularizing therein the nature and quantity of the goods, the weight of each package, and the collective amount of the whole.

5TH. PRODUCTION OF DOCKETS OF REGISTRY ON PAYMENT OF DUTIES. All foreign merchants purchasing tea and silk for export will demand from the Chinese dealer the station-house dockets of registry, which will be produced to the government banker on payment of duties, and without which documents the banker is under strict orders not to receive any duties, or deliver any receipts. But the station-house officers may not extort the dightest fee in the issue of such dockets, and should any attempt to break this rule, the sufferers are at liberty to report them, and they shall be severely pun

ished.

6TH. PAYMENT OF DUTIES. The consignees will make up the account of all tonnage dues, and import and export duties at the custom-house, and then pay the whole in to

the government bankers, from whom they will receive the usual receipts, which will be delivered directly into the custa m-house, and not, as heretofore, through the consul. If any misunderstanding should arise, however, reference will be made to the consul as usual.

7TH. CLEARING of a VESSEL OUTWARDS. The custom-house once satisfied of the correctness of the manifests of import and export cargo, and that the whole of the dues and duties have been paid in, will issue a grand chop, which will be in triplicate, specifying the actual amounts of tonnage dues and duties paid. One copy of which will be handed to the merchant, one sent to the consul, and one kept on record, and on production of which the consul will return the ship's papers and allow the vessel to depart.

8TH. SHIPMENT OR DISCHARGE OF Goods after Sunset will be deemed SMUGGLING. The shipment and discharge of goods shall be carried on between sunrise and sunset, and cannot be allowed after dark; if there be any necessity to continue either after dark, it can only be permitted on application to the Superintendent of Customs for, and receipt of, a special permit. Any infraction of this rule shall be treated as smuggling, and all the goods shall be confiscated.

9TH. THE EXAMINATION OF CARGO BOATS. The custom-house attendants stationed at the Jetties will be at liberty, as they think necessary, to demand of the masters of cargo boats discharging and shipping goods, the name of the vessel, whence they have come, or whither they are going, as also the name of the Hong to which the goods belong, and the number of packages in the boat; and the man in charge shall reply clearly to their questions without any misrepresentation; should he refuse to do so, or be unable from ignorance to give the requisite information, or should the custom-house officers see reason to suspect any irregularity, in either case they will remove the boat to the custom-house Jetty for more minute examination. And should false information be proved to have been given, the boat will be confiscated and the party in charge punished by their own authorities, if Chinese, and if a foreigner, the Superintendent of Customs will request the consul to examine the case and prohibit the party from pursuing the business of lightering. The custom-house attendants will, however, not be permitted, under pain of severe punishment, to offer vexatious interference or cause unnecessary detention.

10TH. PENALTIES FOR SMUGGLING. Increased vigilance on the part of the customhouse officers, and rigorous application of the laws are most necessary at this juncture, in order to earn respect to authority, and prevent frauds upon the revenue. It is therefore publicly notified that henceforth the Superintendant of Customs will levy the full penalty without any compromise, whenever any case of smuggling is proved, and confiscate the whole of the goods he is entitled by regulation to seize, without distinction of persons or flags.

TARE ON SUGAR HOGSHEADS.

The planters of Assumption (Louisiana) have recently adopted the following resolutions in regard to tare on sugar :—

Resolved, That the committee consider the tax of 10 per cent on sugar is already too high in a majority of cases.

That we have borne it without a murmur, but that we consider an increase as an encroachment upon our rights and as unfair in commercial relations.

Resolved, That the increase of tare from 10 to 12 per cent is a departure from the old standard long existing in the sugar market in New Orleans, and ought and must be resisted by every sugar growing parish in the State.

Resolved, That if the Chamber of Commerce should see fit to increase the tare as proposed by the sugar buyers in New Orleans, we respectfully submit to the Chamber, that we may be allowed the same privilege accorded to sellers of Western produce, viz: The weighing of the packages before their delivery in market.

TREATY WITH THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

A copy of the treaty of friendship, Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and the Sandwich Islands, signed at Honolulu, on the 10th July, 1851, has just been received. It is one of entire reciprocal freedom, with the exception, as regards navigation, of the coasting trade of the respective countries. British whalers are to

enjoy the privilege lately conceded also to those of the United States, of entering certain ports, in addition to Honolulu and Lahaina, and are to be allowed to trade to the amount of $200 without the payment of duties of any kind. They may, also, upon paying the ordinary import or export duties, trade to the further extent of $1,000 before becoming liable to port charges. A provision is inserted for the surrender of naval or military deserters which, in consequence of the proximity of California, is not without importance; and there is also a clause for the residence of a British packet agent, in case there should at any time be established British mail-packets touching at a port of the islands. The ratification of the treaty is to take place by the 10th of May, 1852.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

MAURY'S SAILING DIRECTIONS AND CHARTS.*

This is a work of unusual importance to Commerce. It is one which has been brought out as a result of a series of investigations which have been carried on, for a considerable period, by Lieutenant Maury, respecting the winds and currents of the ocean. The basis of these has been the log books, in which were recorded the observations of numerous shipmasters while traversing the various oceans. Already, by following his directions, the length and duration of voyages have been greatly reduced. One of the strongest facts of this kind relates to passages from this port to California. These have been shortened, on an average, not less than forty days. The average passage of sailing vessels bound from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of the United States, has been, without the use of these wind and current charts, 1874 days; but by following the directions of the charts, the average passage is 144 days. As the science advances there is no doubt that much more will be accomplished.

The quiet manner in which these results have been developed by Lieut. Maury, the vast improvement which they must create in the rapidity of the voyages of sailing vessels, and the important consequences which must follow therefrom surely entitle him to no ordinary respect and honor.

It is not too much to regard the nautical information presented in these charts as very far in advance of anything heretofore in the possession of mankind, and it must unquestionably awaken naval officers and shipmasters to a new era in navigation. It is not our purpose, at this time, to enter into a full examination of these charts. This is a subject which we shall reserve for a future occasion, when we shall attempt, in a more elaborate manner, to spread their important features before our readers. Our purpose here is, to express the high appreciation of those labors abroad, and especially in England, where eulogiums are bestowed upon the science and the merits of its principal author and promoter in no measured terms. One of these, from the "British Army Despatch," is so clear in its statements, and so just in its observations, that we append it to these remarks:

[FROM THE (LONDON) BRITISH ARMY DESPATCH.]

Maury's Charts of the North and South Atlantic Ocean. London: J. W. Parker, Strand We have to acknowledge the receipt of these valuable charts, by Lieutenant M. F. Maury, United States Navy, of the National Observatory, Washington.

We pronounce them at once to be the most beautiful specimens of nautical engraving we have ever seen-as elaborately finished as they are scientific in their detail. They are accompanied by a notice to mariners, approved by the Hon. W. B. Preston,

Explanations of sailing directions to accompany wind and current charts, approved by Commomodore Lewis Warrington, chief of the bureau of ordnance and hydrography; and published by authority of Hon, William A. Graham, Secretary of the Navy. By M. F. Maury, United States Navy.

Secretary of the Navy, and published by the authority of Commodore Lewis Warrington, chief of the bureau of ordnance and hydrography. We very much question whether these charts do not herald another American triumph in this year of wonders; at least we have seen nothing like them in this country. So far, indeed, are we from such scientific results, that we seem to be one hundred years behind the labors of Lieutenant Maury. We do not say that it requires one hundred years to overtake or even pass him; but as it is, we are so far, if not farther, removed from the laborious productions of this gentleman.

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These charts of the North and South Atlantic are divided into wind and current charts and pilot charts. With the aid of these combined, to adopt the language of Lieutenant Maury," the navigator may now calculate and project the path of his ship on an intended voyage, very much in the same way that the astronomer determines the path of a comet through the heavens." In order to get at the results exhibited in these charts, which show the action of every known wind and current, immense research has been made by their author into the sailing experience of thousands of vessels. It must rest certainly with the navigator to apply to a certain extent the doctrine of chances to the detailed realities laid down before him.

To show the anxiety displayed by our transatlantic friends in the cause of scientific navigation, pilot-charts are furnished gratuitously to such mariners as apply for them, at Washington, New York, and Philadelphia, on condition of the captain promising to furnish in return an abstract of his log according to the form given in the directions.

The routes laid down by Lieutenant Maury are not, as we before hinted, theoretical; they are the results of practical observation and the experience of thousands of navigators. In the wind and current charts, the winds are denoted by little comet-like "brushes" as they are called: the currents by arrows. The first of these distinguish by their shape every degree of force, from a gale to a light air. The strength of the current is expressed by the length of the arrow. The magnetic variation observed by each vessel is given in Roman numerals. The temperature of the water is also denominated. The seasons are represented by colors; the months by tracks or lines. The names of the vessels of war, or merchant vessels, are duly and differently marked. All this appears very complicated as a whole, but it is simple to any one steering a particular route. We observe that the wind and current chart of our island channel is most elaborately given. We trust that these charts will be fully tried by English navigators, with the same zeal and good feeling which has distinguished American sailing masters. The following is very flattering testimony to American captains:— To the honor of American ship-masters, be it said, that those who fail to keep abstracts according to promise, are very few. The great majority of them are cooperating with me in this great work, with a zeal, ability and effect, the most creditable. I am proud of their assistance." The passage of eighty-nine vessels, with all their mistakes, by the new system and route, compared with that of seventy-three of the old, taken at random, gives a result highly in favor of the wind and current charts. The average sailing distance from the ports of the United States to the Equator has been reduced two weeks for some months of the year, ten days on an average, winter and spring, and one week the year round. Seventeen per cent has been saved in the passage to the line the year round; "which saving," says Lieutenant Maury, "is the first fruit of the wind and current charts, and of that system of investigation with regard to the winds and currents of the ocean, that the patriotism, intelligence, and public spirit of American shipowners and masters have enabled me to pursue with such signal advantage to the Commerce of the country." The trade-wind charts and pilot charts are very curious and valuable. The application of scientific observation to the laws of nature is developed on a scale at once grand and minute. The pilot chart shows the relative number of times, in every five degrees square of the ocean, that the wind blows from the several points of the compass for each month. The method of ascertaining the probable direction of winds and existence of calmis is highly ingenious. It may be observed that the sailing directions are only intended for vessels of a certain speed sailing within six points of the wind, as other than these would probably fall to leeward and bring disrepute upon the route. We trust that these charts may awake some of our ancient mariners or antique land-lubbers to a sense of their deficiency. Otherwise, we prophecy that, whatever perfection we may arrive at in building green houses and cotton-mills, we shall be beaten on the ocean, which was once our pride and our home. But probably Mr. Cobden, that modest Bully Bottom, does not look with apprehension upon this.