Coin, bullion, and diamonds; printed books; guano, or other manure; steam-engines and appurtenances; sugar pans, and apparatus used for the manufacture of sugar, or other produce; temper lime and draining tiles. All live stock, except horses, mares, geldings, colts, foals, mules, asses, and neat cattle.

Provisions, and stores of every description, imported for the use of Her Majesty's land or sea forces.

TABLE II.

Upon all sugar, molasses, rum, cocoa, coffee, cotton, indigo, and other produce exported from this colony, per £100 ad valorem.............. £3 10 0

TABLE III.

Upon all ships and vessels coming to, and entering at the colony, the following duties

on tonnage:

Upon every ship or vessel of 50 tons and upwards-for every ton of the registered tonnage of such ship or vessel.... £0 1 6 Upon every ship or vessel of 25 tons and upwards, but under 50 tons-for every ton of the registered tonnage of such ship or vessel.. £0 1 3 And upon every ship or vessel under 25 tons-for every ton of the registered tonnage of such ship or vessel..........

£0 0 3

Provided always that no such duty or tonnage shall be payable in respect of any vessel entering and clearing in ballast; and provided that where any ship or vessel, of which the registered tonnage shall be less than 50 tons, shall enter more than twice in one and the same year, the tonnage payable upon, or in respect of such vessel, for every entry after the second in the same year, shall be 3d. sterling per ton, and no more.

THE CONSULAR SYSTEM OF FRANCE.

In a former part of the present number of this Magazine, will be found some important suggestions for the re-modelling of our consular system. They come from a highly respectable gentleman abroad, whose long experience as a consular agent of the United States entitle his suggestions to the highest respect. Our national legislators would do well to examine the ordinance of the king of the French, in regard to the consular system of that kingdom, lately published in the "Journal des Debats." It certainly furnishes some suggestions that would be of value in legislating in Congress on the subject. The Washington correspondent of the Baltimore Sun gives the substance of the French king's ordinance, as follows:

"A regular system of instruction and advancement is introduced, well calculated to render consuls respectable even without large salaries. They are to be brought up like diplomates in a regular school, to which none are admitted who have not previously passed a regular examination in regard to their knowledge on law, science, and commerce. When they have passed this examination, they are to be admitted as consular pupils, (eleves, consul,) and placed with some consular agent to acquire the practical duties and routine of the business of consuis. After a number of years, and a second examination, they are promoted from consular pupils to consular agents, and thence, as opportunities may occur, from that post to a consulate of the second rank, from which at last they become consuls of the first rank, and consuls-general."

The Paris correspondent truly says, "Such a system is admirably calculated to produce men who will command respect, and whose spelling, at least, need not be corrected in the State Department." He might have added, that it would promote purity among politiciaus, by removing the temptations at present offered to men to become merely partisans, in the shape of consulships; for it is well known our consuls are not appointed merely for their fitness, but mainly to reward their party services.

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.

LITTLE MIAMI (OHIO) RAILROAD.

THIS road, extending from Cincinnati to Springfield, a distance of 84 miles, was first opened in 1841. The capital stock of the company is divided into 20,000 shares; the par value of each share is $50. The dividends are payable in June and December. The original cost of the road was $1,262,000. The flat rail is used. We give below a table of distances, rates of fare, &c.:—

Freight Rates.-Coal, iron, sugar, salt, butter, groceries, and dry goods, $3 20 per ton, through; lumber, $3 50 per M.; corn and grain, 7 cents per bushel; light and bulky merchandise, $4 per ton, through; four-wheeled carriages, 4 cents per mile; horses, 4 cents per mile.

This road shows an increase in its receipts for the month of October, 1847, over the receipts of the same month in 1846, of $2,820; of which increase $2,775 is on receipts from passengers, and $45 only on freight receipts.

MICHIGAN CENTRAL RAILROAD.

COST OF ROAD, ETC.-PLACES THROUGH WHICH IT PASSES-DISTANCES-RATES OF FARE AND FREIGHT-MERCHANDISE TRANSPORTED OVER THE ROAD IN 1847.

This road was built by the State of Michigan at a cost of about $2,500,000, and was first opened February 1st, 1846. It cost the present company, having been disposed of to a corporation, principally of Eastern capitalists, $2,000,000. The stock is divided into 22,000 shares, and the par value is $100. Dividends are payable on the 1st of June and 1st of December in each year. The H rail is used, weighing 61 pounds per yard. The road extends from Detroit to Kalamazoo, a distance of 146 miles.

We

We give below a tabular statement of the distances, rates of fares in first-class cars, etc. :

Freight Rates.-Coal, iron, and manures, 39 cents per 100 lbs. ; lumber, 25 cents per 100 feet; shingles, 65 cents per M.; corn and grain, 39 cents per 100 lbs.; heavy mer

chandise, such as salt, butter, sugar, beef, pork, and fish, $1 per bbl.; groceries, 39 cents per 100 lbs.; dry goods, 55 cents per 100 lbs.; flour, per barrel, 66 cents; wheat, per hundred pounds, 33 cents; whiskey, beer, and cider, $1 10 per barrel. For lesser distances than through, the above rates are charged pro rata. No parcel is taken on this road, from one station to another, for less than 12 cents. Vehicles, 95 cents per 100 pounds; horses and cattle, $1 35 each; hogs and calves, $1 64 each; sheep, $1 10 each.

Mr. J. W. Brooks, Superintendent of this road, furnishes the following statistical table, showing the business of the road for the year ending September 1, 1847 :—

ACCOUNT OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, BY THE MICHIGAN CENTRAL RAILROAD, FROM SEPTEMBER 1, 1846, TO SEPTEMBER 1, 1847.

For the earnings of this road since its purchase in September, 1846, to 1st of May, 1847, and other particulars, see Merchants' Magazine for November, 1847.

WESTERN AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD.

This road, built by the State of Georgia, extends from Atlanta to Dalton, a distance of 100 miles, and was opened in 1847. The flat bar rail is used 50 miles, the rest bridge and flange. The following table shows the distances, rates of fare, &c., from Atlanta to

The following are the rates of freight, as adopted by the State of Georgia:—

Iron, 15 cents per 100 pounds, through; lumber, $1 per M. for first ten miles, and 25

cents for every additional ten miles; corn and grain, 8 cents per bushel; heavy merchandise, such as sugar, salt, and butter, 25 cents per 100 pounds; dry goods, 40 cents per 100 pounds; light and bulky merchandise, 8 cents per foot, through. No parcels are carried to any point on this road for less than 25 cents. Horses, through, $5; two-wheeled carringes, $3; four-wheeled carriages, $6; special engine and one car, $75.

The annual report of the Western and Atlantic Railroad presents a very flattering exhibit of its affairs. The monthly receipts of this road for the past year have been as follows:

The expenditures and nett income of the road for the past year were as annexed:

The aggregate cost of the Western and Atlantic road up to the 30th of September, 1847, was $3,305,165 88, which was expended as follows:

This road, running, as it does, through the interior of Georgia, and connecting the waters of the Atlantic with those of the Tennessee river, forms a very important link in the great chain of roads which will soon connect with the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

PHILADELPHIA AND READING RAILROAD.

A COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE BUSINESS ON THE PHILADELPHIA AND READING RAILROAD, FOR THE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 30TH,

COMPARATIVE FARES OF RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES.

As the comparative rates of fare on railroads is a subject of some interest, we avail ourselves of the labors of Mr. Minor, the industrious editor of the American Railroad Journal, as exhibited in the following tabular statement of the principal railroads in the United States, giving their length, through fare, and rates per mile, from which it will be seen that the New York and Erie Railroad charges the lowest rate, namely, 172 cents per mile; the Harlem next, and then the Long Island Railroad. The New England roads all range below three cents, except the New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, which is one-tenth over. And the next lowest, after the New England roads, is the Weldon and Wilmington, N. C., which is a fraction less than 2 cents-quite too low for a country so thinly populated, though high enough for many of the more northern lines.

From this statement, it will be seen that the railroads in the State of New York, diverging from the city of New York, charge lower rates than any other roads in the country; and we presume the managers of those roads have been influenced by the belief that, where there is a dense, and, to a certain extent, confined population, the true plan is to put the rates of fare low, and thus induce the masses to use the road. This, we are fully convinced, is the true policy, and we believe it will ultimately prevail.