And the expense of clearing the Falls Wright's ferry, on Susquehanna, to Connewago, inclusive, is estimated at Total expenditures, If the navigation was completed agreeably to the proposed plan, it is presumable that grain might be carried to market at 1s. 6d. per bushel, and back loads at 3s. per cent. which would then amount, in eight years, to Balance saved to the state in 8 years, 368935 0 0 220561 0 0 148374 0 0 The particulars of this calculation, with an estimate of the expense of boats, &c. on which the foregoing result is founded, accompany this report. Your committee could not overlook the uniform report of all the different commissioners on the subject of fish-dams erected on all the waters, in direct violation of the law, and which calls for efficient remedy, without 36890 0 0 which every improvement and expenditure on the navigation will be rendered abortive. 5250 0 1.60,870 0 To these expenses must be added a proportionate sum for superintendants, and other incidental charges, perhaps about ten per cent. By the best information which your committee can obtain, not only from the reports submitted to them, but by conversation with several of the commissioners, we are induced to believe that the sums herein specified will produce such essential benefit to the state of Per.nsylvania, as will over-balance the expense to a degree beyond all possibility of calculation. To give a faint idea of some of those benefits, your committee beg leave to introduce the following calculation of the expenses attending the transportation of produce and merchanlize to and from a small part of the western country, by which it will appear, that, if the same commodities could be conveyed by the proposed navigation, there! would be an actual saving of one hundred and forty-eight thousand pounds in the short space of eight years, exclusive of the great advantages resulting from the employment of all those extra men and cattle in the more profitable business of agriculture. The calculations are as follow: In the year 1790 there were 150,000 bushels of wheat brought down the Susquehanna, and passed through Middletown, for the Philadelphia market, a large proportion of which came down the Juniata. In the year 1788 considerable quantities of grain and flour went up the Susquehanna, for the use of the settlers in Northumberland; but since last March about 30,000 bushels of wheat have returned down the stream for the city. The proportion which the north-western country bears to the country which sends wheat down the Juniata may be supposed as five to one. Therefore it may with propriety be assumed, that when the navigation of the northern and western waters of the Susquehanna is rendered more easy and safe, the annual increase of grain brought down will be considerable. If this increase is admitted to be only one eighth annually, which must be esteemed a very moderate computation, the total amount of wheat brought down in eight years, ending in the year 1800, will be 2,175000 bushels, which at 2s. 6d. per bushel, the present price of carriage by land, is two hundred and seventy-one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five pounds. If only onethird of the weight of the wheat is supposed to be carried back in salt, liquors, and other On the whole, your committee are united in their belief, that the proposed improvements are not only desirable, but are brought into view at a time when the finances of the state will warrant an immediate commencement of the business. Your committee therefore submit the following resolutions, viz. 1st. Resolved, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill, authorising the Governor to contract with individuals, or with companies, for the purpose of undertaking part or parts of the work necessary for improving the roads and waters, to be specified in said bill. 2d. Resolved, That the following sums be appropriated for the purposes mentioned in the foregoing resolve: For the Delaware 2500 0 0 250 0 0 the Lachawac the Lehigh the road from Delaware to Susquehanna near the Great Bend 500 0 0 400 0 0 3650 0 0 2000 0 0 1040 0 0 3d. Resolved, That the Governor be requested to issue a proclamation, inviting proposals for undertaking the canals and locks on and near the waters of Tulpehocken and Quitapahilla, and also the canal from Frankstown to Poplar run, and report to the legislature. 4th. Resolved, That a committee be appointed, to bring in a bill to empower the Governor to sell, from time to time, so much of the public securities of the state, as may be necessasy to provide for the expenses of the roads and navigations, as contained in the second resolve. 5th. Resolved, That the annual sum of five thousand pounds, already appropriated by law for claims and improvements, after every annual claim is satisfied, shall hereafter be appropriated to the improvement of roads, reserving only the annual sum of pounds, for such other improvements as the legislature may from time to time direct. 6th. Resolved, That the Governor be authorized to appropriate the balance, hitherto unapplied, remaining of the annual sum of five thousand pounds, appropriated to roads and inland navigation, for the immediate improvements of roads within the state; and that the following sums be allotted: For a road leading from Wilkesbarre to the Wind Gap For a road leading from Susquehanna, at on the Delaware to For a road through the upper part of Berks county down to Schuylkill 300 0 0 7th. Resolved, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill, for the purposes contained in the fifth and sixth resolutions. 8th. Resolved, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill, for the more effectual suppression of fish dams on such navigable waters within this state, as are or shall be by law declared to be highways. Your committee have examined and considered the memorial of the Society for promoting roads and Inland Navigations, and are happy in so perfectly harmonizing with those gentlemen in their views. The memorial contains very interesting information, and your committee would recommend its being printed on the minutes, Ordered to lie on the table. BANK OF THE UNITED STATES. At the General Triennial Meeting of the Stockholders of the Bank of the United States, held at their Hall in the city of Philadelphia, on Monday the first day of September 1828, ROBERT RALSTON, Esq. was called to preside-and JOSEPH HEMPHILL, Esq. appointed Secretary. In conformity to the provisions of the charter an exact and particular statement of the debts which remained unpaid after the expiration of the original credit for a period of treble the term of that credit, and of the surplus of profits after deducting losses and dividends, was laid before the stockholders for their information by the President of the Bank. Mr. Biddle then presented a general view of the situation of the Institution, with an account of its progress since the last meeting of the stockholders, referring to and submitting to the meeting tion of Charles Chauncey, Esq. it was resolved, That various documents and statements: Whereupon, on mothe matters submitted by the President, together with the statements laid upon the table by him, be referred to a Committee. The Chairman then appointed the following gentlemen, viz. CHARLES CHAUNCEY. ALEXANDER HENRY, CADWALADER EVANS. CHARLES J. INGERSOLL, JAMES RONALDSON, JAMES C. FISHER. On motion Resolved, That when this meeting adjourns, it adjourns until to-morrow morning at nine o'clock. Tuesday morning, September 2, 1828. The Stockholders met pursuant to adjournment. Charles Chauncey, Esq. on behalf of the Committee appointed yesterday, submitted the following report, which with the resolutions accompanying it were unani300 0 0 mously adopted, and ordered to be published in pamphlet form and in the newspapers. 500 0 0 300 0 0 The committee appointed at the meeting of the stockholders of the Bank of the United States, on the 1st inst. report: That in executing the duty assigned to them they have examined the books and accounts of the Bank, and will proceed to state the result of their inquiries, in re300 0 0 gard to the distribution of the stock of the Bank-the 500 0 0 present state of the funds-and the mode of administer300 0 0ing them. 400 0 0 1. The Stock of the Bank is at present divided as folNames. lows: Shares. on Schuylkill For a road from Callender's mill, over Pennsylvania, Croghan's gap, to West's mill 200 0 0 1264 For a road from Fulton's ferry on Susque estate at Cincinnati, where there is every reason to be lieve that the whole estimated loss, now amounting to $420,000, and included in the above sum of $3,192,064 43 cents, will be fully repaired out of the property now belonging to the Bank. 2nd. By the arrears of interest, at the four western offices, which, for some years past, furnished an average annual income of 111,000 dolls. 3d. By what may yet be obtained out of the sum of 1,571,000 dollars interest on the bad and doubtful debts, and on the large mass of bad debts, which, though for greater caution considered unavailable, are in a train of final settlement, and are still yielding considerable sums. Under a view of these circumstances, it was not deemed advisable by the board of directors, in July last, to add any thing from the surplus fund to provide for these losses, considering the funds already assigned as sufficient to repair them; in which opinion this committee entirely concur. The surplus fund of reserved profits, accordingly stands at 1,518,298 dollars 61 cents. From these statements it will be perceived, that within the last few years there has been a very large addition to the resources, the operations, and the profits of the Bank; and which, in the opinion of the committee, is ascribable principally to two measures of the Board of Directors, which have given an entirely new aspect to its affairs; and which are so intimately connected with the administration of the Bank, that the committee deem it proper and useful to notice them particularly. 1st. The first-the conversion of a large proportion of the Stock loans of the bank into investments of a more active character. The loans had been for the most part made to individuals, who were not able to pay, and whose stock being therefore forfeited to the Bank, became in fact a diminution of its efficient capital. This stock being sold produced a direct profit of $71,000 per annum-the difference between the employment of the proceeds, and the highest dividends on the stock while it remained part of the capital-besides enabling the bank to multiply and extend its connexions in business, and give greater activity to its operations. the success of which has, in the view of this committee, laid the foundation of the present prosperity of the institution. It would lead the committee beyond the proper limits of a report to state in detail the reason of this course, but the principle on which it was founded was briefly this: That the universal receivability of the notes of the bank was of no disadvantage if the local currency of the place where the notes were issued was sound; and it was the duty of the Bank to the United States, and within its power, to make it sound. Accordingly they pursued the system of issuing freely and exclusively their own notes-of receiving generally the notes of solvent State Banks, and making frequent settlements with them, thus improving the currency by introducing the notes of the Bank of the United States, and by preventing the over issues of the State Banks. By a gradual and judicious execution of this plan the effect followed, that without private or general suffering-without causing the failure of any Bank, or any individual; and without inconvenience to the Bank of the United States, the banking operations of the country have been brought under an efficient control; and a large amount of the notes of the Bank of the United States have been gradually substituted for the depreciated or doubtful currency, which was so injurious to the southern and western states. This signal triumph over the greatest of all the difficulties of the bank, for the achievement of which a debt of lasting gratitude is due to the able officer who presides over the institution, has dissipated all the doubts entertained of its power to supply the necessary amount of notes, and has permanently fixed the basis of a wide, extended and profitable usefulness. 1st of July, 1828, was $22,084,222, on which the profit was $451,203 17; whilst the profit on the purchase of domestic exchange in 1828, was $95,240 25, and thus it appears, that the profit on domestic exchange has increased to an amount so great, as considerably to exceed all the expenses of the bank. The means thus derived from the increase of notes and the sale of stock, were devoted to discounts and loans, particularly to that class of loans which are at once the safest and the most useful-the discount of bills of exchange. With these means the bank has been ena bled to extend its operations in both foreign and domestic exchange, in such a manner as greatly to enhance the profits of its business, at the same time that it has afforded facility and security to the commercial transac2d. But the second measure alluded to by the com- tions of the country. As an illustration of the progress mittee which wrought the most important change in the of this branch of business-the most valuable to the situation of the Bank—that which may be considered bank, as being the great auxiliary of its circulation— as decisive of its usefulness and prosperity-relates to the committee remark, that the amount of domestic exthe nature and extent of the circulation of its notes.-change purchased by the bank in the year ending the The issue and circulation of its notes by a bank is among the most natural and legitimate sources of its profits. To the Bank of the U. S. established for the purpose of supplying and sustaining a sound currency, the inability to maintain a circulation in any degree corresponding with its capital, was therefore both injurious to its interests and fatal to its usefulness. This inability was To exhibit the effects of this system, the committee supposed to arise from the provision in the charter-present a comparison between the existing state of the making the notes of the bank universally receivable for bank as mentioned above, and that reported by the comduties to the government-which it was presumed mittee of stockholders in October, 1822. would oblige the bank to provide funds in many places State of the Bank, August 30, 1822. to pay the same note, and consequently require a greater fund of specie than of notes, thus causing the bank to diminish rather than increase the amount of the sound currency. The consequence was, that the bank was apprehensive of issuing its notes freely, particularly in the southern and western states, but often felt itself obliged to resort to the issue of the notes of the State Banks. The whole amount of its own notes in circulation on the 1st of January, 1823, was $4,589,000. At the meeting of the stockholders on the first of October 1822, this subject was presented for consideration, and it was recommended, that application should be made to Congress, for an alteration of the charter in that particular. In compliance with the wish of the stockholders, application was made to Congress and the request was declined, as it had previously been. Obliged by this refusal to rely on their own resources and their own responsibility, the Board of Directors adopted a course, Capital paid in $34,992,139 63 5,456,891 90 3,559,792 96 Due to sundry Offices and Banks, and to Funded Debt, Personal security DISTRIBUTED. -6,776,492 74 1,964,898 36 129,741 28 3,743,899 00 388,237 01 51,897 07 $53,504,196 99 $13,020,469 27 22,072,405 46 State Banks of $1,650,869 73 Bonus, &c. -2,076,219 87 212 99 greater than in the year ending on the 1st of July 1822-and $979,789 30 greater than the average of the three years preceding the 1st of July 1822. This comparison will be more striking if made between the semiannual periods of the 1st January 1823, and the 1st July 1828, presenting an improvement in the resources of the Bank of upwards of twenty one millions of dollars, and an increase of circulation and deposits of more than sixteen millions of dollars. This exhibition is calculated to show that the Stockholders of the Bank of the United States are deriving important advantages from the successful prosecution of a system of measures, which not only produces profit to the stockholders, but furnishes to the community a convenient, sound and highly useful currency; and the committee, at the same time that they approve the system which has been practically shown to be wise, feel it to be proper to notice and commend the activity and energy which have been exercised by the Officers of the Bank, to preserve the purity of this currency, and save the community from the evils of its being counterfeited. The committee deem themselves justified in stating, as the general result of their examination, that the affairs of the institution are in a highly prosperous condition; conducted upon proper banking principles, in the general scheme of its administration, and in the details of its management; that after making provision for its apprehended losses, it has a surplus fund of $1,518,000, and that every thing indicates a continuance of its present prosperity. In conclusion, the committee submit to the consideration of the Stockholders the following resolutions: Resolved, That this meeting has received with great satisfaction the Report of the state of the Bank, which has been made to it by the President, in conformity with the provisions of the charter, inasmuch as that Report exhibits to the Stockholders, in a clear and satisfactory manner, that the concerns of the Institution are in a secure and prosperous condition. Resolved, That this meeting is deeply impressed with the conviction that the business of this Institution has been conducted by the President and Directors upon such sound and wise practical principles, as to ensure its prosperity; to enable it to be extensively useful to the community; to entitle it to the confidence of the nation; and to make it not only a private, but a great public benefit. Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be presented to the President of the bank, for his able, faithful and devoted services in the administration of the concerns of this Institution; and that he be respectfully assured, that he has earned the gratitude and the confidence of the Stockholders. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NECK. Extract from a letter of Dr. Charles Caldwell, of Phi-ladelphia, to Dr. J. E. White, of Savannah. Directly to the southward of the city of Philadelphia (properly so called) lies the district of Southwark; and to the southward of that again, but immediately adipining it, a low and level tract of land, denominated the $16,190,748 90 Neck. This tract which is situate between the rivers As a result, it is seen, that the net profits of the bank Delaware and Schuylkill, immediately above their confor the year ending on the 1st of July last, were $823,fluence, consisted originally of marsh and natural mea Making a total increase of |