and hoards of Russian gold may be disgorged to sustain the coalition of legitimate princes. That paper money will again become the means of taxation for war expenses, will doubtless be the case. Already the popular cause in Hungary is supplied with Hungarian paper, and the final acts of the French Assembly were to remove some $30,000,000 of taxes, and to supply the deficit with Treasury paper. The consequences of paper issues must necessarily be the same as heretofore, but as a means of levying war taxes, it is powerful and efficient at first, although a means of weakness in the end. The practical effect upon a large scale will necessarily be to promote the export of the precious metals to the United States, both as a remittance for emigrating capital, and in payment of produce purchased.

There has been, on the part of the banks of the interior, a constant tendency to expansion of credits, which tendency has been supported by the favorable state of the foreign exchanges. As an indication of this, we may compare the returns of the banks of two States, namely, at New Orleans, where the vast volume of the produce of the Mississippi valley descends upon tide water, and in Ohio, which is one of the largest producing States, and in which banking has by law the present operation. The following are the leading features of the New Orleans banks:

Years.

BANKS OF NEW ORLEANS.

53,760

252,279

58,182

58,263

Discounts. Exchange. Cash assets. Specie. Circulation. Deposits. Due banks. Ap'l, 1848... 7,010,616 5,536,687 383,175 7,205,136 4,770,275 7,618,599 July, 1848... 6,232,539 3,005,193 377,806 7,590,655 3,963,689 7,320,079 Aug., 1848... 6,401,246 2,327,393 377,806 7,597,375 3,866,734 7,020,491 Sept., 1848... 7,113,863 1,869,812 383,744 7,633,801 3,640,928 7,057,372 Jan., 1849... 9,335,680 2,539,950 373,926 8,153,450 4,165,072 8,368,549 1,640,199 June, 1849... 8,309,938 6,049,623 366,176 7,353,527 5,380,027 8,511,231 1,635,264

The operations in exchange swelling in amount as the crops go forward in the greatest volume, and deviating as the season draws to a close, are the most marked and important features of the banks; and the amount held by the banks unsold was this year larger than at the same time last year. The increase in deposits and circulation over last year reached near $2,000,000, a sum which appears to have been applied to an increase of discounts. The circulation of the banks is far within the line of the specie, and as far as actual money goes, the operation of the banks appear to be to diminish its volume outstanding. Thus, if the banks were to pay out all their specie for circulation and deposit, the amount of money in the hands of the community would be $2,000,000 greater than it is; or, in other words, the banks of New Orleans draw from business a larger amount of specie than does the assistant treasury at New York. The aggregate discounts of the banks in notes and exchange appears, however, to be $5,000,000 higher than last year, and may be justified by the enhanced exports and improved prices of producc. In Ohio, the bank operation has been as follows:—

The unsound condition of the banks in 1838 and 1839, became manifest, when, in 1843-44, resumption of specie payments became necessary. Under that severe test, only eight institutions survived. Of those eight, three have since failed, under disgraceful circumstances. Under the law of 1845, two new systems of banking were devised, and their effect seems to have been, by a parade of sham security, to engender public confidence in institutions which are far from deserving of it, and these multiply with the rapidity manifest in the table. The bank circulation in Ohio is now nearly double that of the New Orleans banks, and it exceeds the safe rule recognized by paper money bankers, as a basis for a circulation, viz., three to one of specie. While the circulation of the New Orleans banks is as 1 to 14 of specie, that of the Ohio banks is as 4 to 14 specie. In the case of the New Orleans banks, moreover, the money is loaned upon accredited bills of exchange, which are themselves money, forming the currency by which international commerce is conducted. In Ohio, the tendency is rather to discount notes, for goods purchased and sold upon credits, which are gradually extending and becoming more hazardous. Adverse exchanges must be fatal to such a volume of credits. Up to this time, the course of the foreign markets is favorable to a continued health of the exchanges; but the above table admonishes that the repletion of bank credits in Ohio, is already producing its legitimate results, in diminishing the specie in the bank vaults. For the first time since the new banks commenced operation in 1846, the return of specie shows a lessened sum on hand, while exchanges are still in favor of the east. The tendency of the inflation, is to prevent Ohio from selling produce on as good terms as Michigan, Illinois, or Iowa, where the banks do not, comparatively, exist. A check given to Ohio exports, will enhance the difficulty of collecting bank debts, at a moment when the demands upon them for specie will be the most urgent. It is, however, to be remembered that the foreign demand for stocks embraces those of Ohio which now sell at par in London, whence, in the last few years, they have been remitted to this country. This opens a profitable outlet for considerable quantities of Ohio stocks, of which the banks in question have some $2,000,000, as security for circulation, and which has considerably advanced in value, since they purchased it. The probabilities are, that the multiplication of corporate capital in many of the States, will progress rapidly in the coming year.

COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.

IMPORTS OF FOREIGN MERCHANDISE INTO THE UNITED STATES.

A SUMMARY STATEMENT OF THE QUANTITY AND VALUE OF GOODS, WARES, AND MERCHANDISE, IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM JULY 1, 1847, TO JULY 1, 1848, DERIVED FROM THE LAST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY ON COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION.