latitude, and on the difference between the ship's time and their chronometers for their longitude. If, therefore, their chronometers should happen to get out of order, or a meridian observation could not be obtained, most mariners would be in doubt respecting their true positions. Mr. Thatcher's discovery purposes to obviate both of these difficulties, by means of a single observation, at any angle, and at any time, and is declared to be, by The Pacific, partly geometrical and partly arithmetical; but as plain and certain as any demonstration in Euclid's elements, or any sum in the rule of three. Mr. Thatcher is preparing to publish this method.

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.

PORT CHARGES IN HAMBURG.

We are indebted to FERDINAND KARCK, Esq., Consul for Hamburg, residing at the port of New York, for the following memorandum of the recent reduction of port charges at Hamburgh :

The Hamburg port charges have recently been reduced very materially. While vessels arriving at Hamburg had to pay, up to the end of 1851, at the rate of

Three marks currency per Commerz last, (about three tons,) when from or beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn,

Or 2 marks 8 schillings when from the United States, British North America, the West Indies, and all other countries on the Atlantic coast of the American continent, as well as the west coast of Africa,

Or 2 marks when from Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean,

Or 1 mark when from other European ports

There has now been adopted a uniform tonnage dues of only 8 B, (eight schillings,) currency per Commerz last, which makes it equal to about 5 cents United States currency per ton.

One-half of these dues only (say about 24 cents per ton) is to be paid for vessels arriving either in ballast or being freighted only with coal, cinders, coke, or other fuel, building materials, staves, empty bottles, empty jars, tanners' bark, clay, common earthenware, cattle, animal offal, dung, &c., &c.

Free of all tonnage dues are colliers or coal vessels bringing coal, cinders, and coke, and leaving port again in ballast; also vessels arriving for the only purpose of repairing, and which leave, immediately after being repaired, in ballast.

Further particulars can be obtained from the revised Hamburg Customs Regulations, as adopted on the 29th December, 1851, a copy of which is in the hands of all the Hamburg Consuls.

GENERAL LAW OF NEW YORK FOR OCEAN STEAMSHIP COMPANIES.

The following is a correct copy of each section of "An Act for the Incorporation of Companies formed to Navigate the Ocean by Steamships,” as passed April 12, 1852, by "the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly," and certified by the Secretary of State, April 15, 1852. This act takes effect from the time of its passage, and is, of course, now in force :

AN ACT FOR THE INCORPORATION OF COMPANIES FORMED TO NAVIGATE THE OCEAN BY STEAMSHIPS.

SECTION 1. Any seven or more persons, who may desire to form a company for the purpose of building for their own use, equipping, furnishing, fitting, purchasing, chartering, navigating, and owning vessels to be propelled solely or partially by the power or aid of steam or other expansive fluid or motive-power, to be used in all lawful Commerce and navigation upon the ocean and seas, and for the transportation of passengers, freight, and mails, may make, sign, and acknowledge before some officer competent to take the acknowledgment of deeds, and file in the office of the clerk of the county in which the principal office for the management of the business of the company shall be situated, and a duplicate thereof in the office of the Secretary of State, a certificate in writing, in which shall be stated the corporate name of the said com

pany, and the specific objects for which the company shall be formed, stating particularly the ports between which such vessels are intended to be navigated, the amount of the capital stock of said company, which shall not be less than fifty thousand or more than two millions of dollars, the term of its existence not to exceed twenty years, the number of shares of which the said stock shall consist, the number of directors and their names, who shall manage the concerns of said company for the first year, and the name of the city or town and county in which the principal office for managing the affairs of the company is to be situated.

SEC. 2. When the certificate shall have been filed as aforesaid, and 10 per cent of the capital named paid in, the persons who shall have signed and acknowledged the same, and all others who thereafter may be holders of any share or shares of said capital stock, and their successors, shall be a body politic and corporate in fact and in name, by the name stated in such certificate, and shall have and possess all the powers, and be subject to all the provisions, contained in the third title of chapter eighteen of the first part of the Revised Statutes, and they shall, by their corporate name, be capable in law of purchasing, holding, and conveying any real or personal estate whatever, which may be necessary to enable the said company to carry on the operations named in such certificate.

SEO. 3. The stock, property, and concerns of such company shall be managed by not less than five nor more than nine directors, who shall respectively be stockholders in such company, and citizens of the United States, and a majority of whom shall be residents of this State; and who shall, except the first year, be annually elected by the stockholders, at such time and place as shall be directed by the by-laws of the company; and public notice of the time and place of holding such election shall be published, not less than twenty days previous thereto, in a newspaper printed in the place where the principal office for the management of the said company shall be situated, which elections shall be conducted in all respects in conformity with, and shall be subject to, the provisions contained in the second article of title two of the said chapter eighteen; each stockholder shall be entitled to as many votes as he owns shares of stock in the said company. The directors named in the articles of association shall appoint inspectors of the first election from among the stockholders who are not directors.

SEC. 4. It shall be lawful for the directors to call in and demand from the stockholders respectively all such sums of money by them subscribed, at such times and in such payments or instalments as the directors shall deem proper, the penalty of forfeiting the shares of stock subscribed for, and all previous payments made thereon, if payment shall not be made by the stockholders within sixty days after a demand or notice requiring such payment, and addressed to the defaulter or defaulters, shall have been published for three successive weeks in any newspaper in the place where the principal office of the said company shall be situated; but the recovery by action of any instalment shall preclude the corporation from forfeiting any stock by reason of the non-payment of such instalments.

SEC. 5. The stockholders of any corporation formed in pursuance of this act shall be jointly and severally individually liable for all the debts that may be due and owing to all their laborers and operatives for services performed for such corporation. SEO. 6. The stockholders of any such corporation shall be severally individually liable to the creditors of such corporation to an amount equal to the amount of stock held by them respectively, for all debts and contracts made by such corporation, until the amount of its capital stock shall have been paid in, and a certificate thereof shall have been made and recorded as prescribed in the following section.

SEC. 7. The president and a majority of the directors of any such corporation, within thirty days after the payments of the last instalments of the capital stock of such corporation, shall make a certificate stating the amount of the capital stock of the corporation, and that the same is paid in, which certificate shall be signed and sworn to by a majority of the directors, and they shall, within the said thirty days, record the same in the office of the clerk of the county in which is located the principal business office of such corporation.

SEC. 8. But no stockholder shall be personally liable for the payment of any debt contracted by any such corporation unless a suit for the collection of such debt shall be brought against such corporation within six years after the debt shall become due; and no suit shall be brought against any stockholder in such corporation for any debt so contracted until an execution shall have been returned unsatisfied in whole or in part.

SEC. 9. The term stockholder, as used in this act, shall apply not only to such per

sons as appear by the books of the corporation or association to be such, but also to every equitable owner of stock, although the same may appear on such books in the name of another person; and also to every person who shall have advanced the instalments or purchase-money of any stock in the name of any person under twentyone years of age, and while such person remains a minor, to the extent of such advance; and also to every guardian or other trustee who shall voluntarily invest any trust funds in such stock; and no trust funds in the hands of such guardian or trustee shall be in any way liable, under the provisions of this act, by reason of any such investments; nor shall the person for whose benefit any such investment may be made be responsible in respect to such stock until thirty days after the time when such persons respectively become competent and able to control and dispose of the same; but the guardian or other trustee making such investment as aforesaid, shall continue responsible as a stockholder until such responsibility devolves upon the person beneficially interested therein; and respect to stock held by a guardian or other trustee under transfer of the same, by a third person, or under positive directions by a third person for such investment, the person making such transfer or giving such directions, and his executors and administrators, shall, for the purposes of this act, be deemed a stockholder, and the estate of such person, if he be deceased, shall be responsible for the debts and liabilities chargeable on such stock according to the provisions of this act. SEC. 10. A book shall be provided and kept by every corporation described in the first section of this act, in which shall be entered the names and residences of the stockholders in such corporation, at the time of the filing the certificate, and the names and residences of the original stockholders of every corporation or association organized after the day last mentioned, so far as the same are known to the officers of such corporation, the number of shares held by each stockholder, every registered transfer of stock upon the books of the corporation after the said last-mentioned day, the names of the assignor and assignee, with their residences, and the number of shares transferred. The said book shall be at all times, during the usual hours of transacting business, open to public inspection; a neglect to provide and keep such book ready for examination, as herein provided, shall subject the corporation, whose duty it is to provide and keep the same, to a penalty of one hundred dollars for every day's negfect, and a refusal by any officer of such corporation or association to exhibit such book to any person demanding the inspection thereof, as herein provided, shall subject such officer to a penalty of fifty dollars; the said penalties may be sued for and recovered with costs by any person who will prosecute for the same, the one moiety thereof to be paid to such person, and the other moiety to be paid into the Treasury of the State. In all proceedings under the provisions of this act, the said book shall be presumptive evidence of the truth of the contents thereof, but such presumption may be repelled by evidence by any party or person interested in repelling the same. SEC. 11. Any company which may be formed under this act may increase or diminish its capital stock, by complying with the provisions of this act, to any amount which may be deemed proper and sufficient for the purposes of the corporation, but before any corporation shall be entitled to diminish the amount of its capital stock, if the amount of debts and liabilities shall exceed the amount of capital to which it is proposed to be reduced, such amount of debts and liabilities shall be satisfied and reduced so as not to exceed such diminished amount of capital.

SEC. 12. Any existing company, heretofore formed under any special act, may come under and avail itself of the privileges and provisions of this act by complying with the following provisions, and thereupon such company, its officers and stockholders, shall be subject to all the restrictions, duties, and liabilities of this act.

SEC. 13. Whenever any company shall desire to avail itself of the privileges and provisions of this act, or for increasing or diminishing the amount of its capital stock, it shall be the duty of the directors to publish a notice, signed by at least a majority of them, in a newspaper in the county where the principal office for managing its affairs is situated, if any shall be published therein, at least three successive weeks, convening a meeting of the stockholders thereof, specifying the objects of the meeting, the time and place, when and where such meeting shall be held, and the amount to which it shall be proposed to increase or diminish the capital, and a vote of at least two-thirds of all the shares of stock shall be necessary to an increase or diminution of its capital stock, or to enable a company to avail itself of the provisions of this act.

SEC. 14. If at any time specified in the notice provided for in the preceding section of this act, stockholders shall appear in person or by proxy, in number representing not less than two thirds of all the shares of stock of the corporation, they shall or

ganize by choosing one of the directors chairman of the meeting, and also a suitable person for secretary, and proceed to a vote of those present in person or by proxy, and if, on canvassing the votes, it shall appear that a sufficient number of votes has been given in favor of increasing or diminishing the amount of capital, or of availing itself of the privileges and provisions of this act, a certificate of the proceedings showing a compliance with the provisions of this act, the amount of capital actually paid in, the whole amourt of debts and liabilities of the company, and the amount to which the capital stock shall be increased or diminished, shall be made out, signed, and verified by the affidavit of the chairman, and be countersigned by the secretary; and such certificate shall be acknowledged by the chairman and filed, as required by the first section of this act, and when so filed, the capital stock of such corporation shall be increased or diminished to the amount specified in such certificate, and the company shall be entitled to the privileges and provisions, and be subject to the liabilities of this act, as the case may be.

SEC. 15. This act shall take effect immediately.

THE NEW SPANISH TARIFF.

The Madrid Gazette, the official paper, publishes the following rules for the observance of the tariff:

Goods of new invention, when presented for the first time, are to pay the duties imposed upon goods similar or analogous to them, and specimens of them are to be sent to the custom-house director, in order that Her Majesty's Government may set down the proper duty they are to pay in future. If the goods have no similarity or analogy with any already tariffed goods, they are to pay a duty of 15 per cent if they are brought in Spanish bottoms, and 18 per cent in foreign bottoms or land carriage. All goods which are brought in small quantities, and which are not mentioned in the tariff are subject to the same payment just mentioned. For the valuation of goods the parties interested must present the original bills of prices. If the custom-house officers do not agree upon them, and think it expedient to fix other prices, and the parties interested offer no objection, the goods are to pass according to the prices mutually agreed upon. If they cannot agree, the matter is to be examined by the superior authority. In this case, the custom-house officers can buy the goods if they will, paying the parties interested the amount of their bill, together with 10 per cent more, and being responsible for the custom-house duties. The treasury will lend them the money necessary. Goods which are the product of and proceeding from the Spanish colonies, and which are not mentioned in the tariff as such, will pay 10 per cent upon valuation, if they are brought in Spanish bottoms, care being taken that due proportion be calculated with respect to the same class of goods coming from other countries, in which case an analogous modification is to be made. If they come in foreign bottoms, they will pay as if they came from foreign countries. Colonial and foreign goods which have been warehoused in Havana or Porto Rico, carried there in Spanish bottoms, and brought thence to Spain and the Balearic Islands in Spanish bottoms, will only pay the duties paid under the national flag. But, if the goods had been taken to Havana or Porto Rico in foreign bottoms, and thence to Spain in native ones, they will pay the duties set down for Spanish bottoms, and, besides, half of that set down for foreign ones. If both the voyage to Havana and thence to Spain be made in foreign vessels the differential duty will be paid, and besides half of the argumentation which constitutes it. Foreign goods already used, but proceeding from Spanish colonies, are to be considered as already become Spanish when they arrive in the Peninsula, and shall be free from duty, as if brought in the coast trade. Goods coming from and the product of the Philippine Islands, and not noted in the tariff, are to pay the fifth part of those coming from foreign countries, if brought in Spanish bottoms. But if they come in foreign bottoms, they shall pay as if they came from foreign countries. Goods coming from Asiatic countries not under the dominion of Spain, but coming in Spanish bottoms, will pay three-fifths of the duty. If they have been in the first place carried to the Philippines they will pay half of the duties set down in the tariff. But if they come in foreign bottoms under the circumstances, they will pay as if they came from foreign countries. If they have first been to the Canary Islands, they will, on arriving in Spain, pay but the difference between the Canary Island duties and the Peninsular ones. The weights and measures used are the Spanish legal ones, the arroba, (solid measure,) 25 lbs., (16 oz. to the pound,) and in liquid measure 32 cuartillos, except for oil, which is considered as solid. The quintal is 100 lbs., and the ton 20 quin.

tals. The yard 36 inches. The accounts are kept in reals, divided into 100 cents. The sugar, refined or half-refined, prepared in Spain, is to have an export premium of eight reals by arroba of refined sugar. Foreign and Spanish Asiatic goods, when once they have paid import duty according to the tariff, will be considered as Spanish, and liable to the same duties of extraction, consumption, &c., as Spanish goods. No reduction will be made in favor of any industry, public or private establishment, of any class. The incidents that may occur in the operations of the customs upon points comprehended in the instruction, will be resolved without exaction of costs from the interested parties.

GROWTH OF CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN POPULATION.

The recent United States census exhibits many interesting facts respecting the increase of the principal centers of population. The Dayton (Ohio) Gazette gives the population of a few of the larger cities in the United States, and makes the subjoined comparison of their growth during the first half of the nineteenth century, that is, from 1800 to 1850:

Looking at the increase of these cities for fifty successive years, we readily find the time required for duplication, which is nearly as follows:

But this estimate does not fairly show the true law of growth of these places. New agencies have been called into service within that period, which tend more powerfully to centralize population than any influences known at the commencement of the nineteenth century-steamboats, railways, telegraphs, coal and iron mines, etc. All these, and many other agencies, have given a momentum to this aggregation of population, which has been wonderful during the last decennial period. It is interesting also to notice the various changes in the relative increase of cities for several successive decades since 1800. One place shows a decreased ratio of growth, another an acceleration without a parallel in history; and these relative changes are not factitious, but