promise, the promisee receives it, and the thing to be done is promised. The phrase "presumption of law" will be sometimes met with. This means, that in certain cases, and upon certain facts, the law presumes without proof that the parties did so and so, or intended so and so. There are

a great many presumptions of law; indeed, something of this kind occurs in every case. Thus, if anybody is charged with crime or wrong, the presumption of law is that he is innocent. If one makes a promissory note without any time expressed for payment, the presumption of law is that the money is payable on demand. If there be a sale, and no delay agreed on as to delivery of the thing sold, or the payment for it, the presumption of law is that the thing sold is to be delivered at once, and that payment is to be made at once. Of these presumptions a few are absolute, that is, the law will not receive any evidence to the contrary; but most of them— especially in mercantile transactions-are open to evidence, and may be removed by sufficient proof.

It will be noticed, also, that some questions are spoken of as "questions of fact," and others as "questions of law." This listinction is occasionally important in cases which arise in business. The rule is, that a court must not undertake to decide a question of fact, because this is within the exclusive province of the jury. But the court alone must decide all questions of law, and the jury are bound to take and apply the law as it is given them by the court. Thus, if goods are sold to an infant, (by which the law means a minor,) and he refuses to pay for them, the question comes up whether they were necessaries; for if they were, the infant is bound to pay for them. This question resolves itself into two. One is the question of law, what kind of things the law means by "necessaries" when it says the infant must pay for them; and this the court alone decid›, and instruct the jury accordingly. The other is, are the things sold such as the court say the law considers necessaries? and this the jury alone decides. These questions sometimes run together; and juries often undertake to settle the law as well as the fact; but they have no right to do so. Judges are selected from the most learned of the profession, and paid by the people to be their lawyers; that is, to secure for the people the intelligent construction and application of the laws which the people have made by their representatives to protect themselves. And the question whether the jury or the judge shall determine the law, is only the question whether the people wish to have their own laws construed and applied by those who are most able to do this properly, or by those who are less able.

Another phrase often met with is "the burden of proof." The law means by this the duty or necessity of proving what one asserts; and it is often very important to ascertain on whom this duty or burden rests. Thus, if A sues B for the price of goods sold, and A says he sold them to B, and B says he never bought them of A, B has nothing to do until A proves the sale; for the burden of proof is on him. The general rule is, that whoever asserts an affirmative must prove it, and he who only denies need not prove it. One reason for this is obvious. It must be far easier for a man to prove that he did a certain thing, (for any one who saw it is a sufficient witness,) than for another man to prove that he did not do a certain thing; for if ten thousand people did not see him, this does not prove it, for perhaps somebody else did see him.

The burden of proof sometimes shifts back and forth in a case. If A sues B on a note, B does nothing until A discharges the burden of proof

by showing that B signed it. Then the burden of proof is on B, if he says he paid it; and if B proves that on a certain day he gave A certain money or goods in payment, he discharges his burden of proof, and it then shifts on A, and, if he still denies the payment, he must prove that the money was counterfeit, or the goods worthless, or some other similar fact, which shows that there was no payment in fact.

This

Another word is in frequent use in the law-merchant. It is "lien." is a Norman French word, and literally means a tie, a bond, or connection. It is used in law to signify the right which a party has over a thing in his possession, to keep it until his charge upon it, or arising out of it, is paid. Thus, if a wharfinger or warehouseman stores goods, or a common carrier carries them, he is not bound to deliver them up until the storage or carriis paid for, because he has a lien on the goods for these charges, and by virtue of the lien may keep them until these charges are paid..

age

There is still another word which occurs so often that it may be well to explain it. It is "assets;" thus lawyers and law-books speak of the assets of an heir, or an executor, administrator, trustee, or assignee. This word means all the property, and valuable interests of every kind, which belong to any fund, and are available for the charges to which that fund is appropriated. Thus, to say that such a thing is "assets" in the hands of the assignee of a bankrupt, is to say that he is entitled to it as a part of his fund, and must realize or collect or reduce it to money as well as he can, and divide it among the creditors.

THE DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 1, 1863.
[From the Washington Chronicle.]

The statement given below of the amount and character of the public debt is authentic. More than a year ago some patriotic alarmists startled the country by the announcement that our public debt had already amounted to a thousand millions, and that it was increasing at a rate that would in another year render us completely bankrupt. Now, just two years after the breaking out of the rebellion, we find that our debt is only nine hundred and twenty-three millions, less than one-half what the croakers predicted. It is less than one-half the debt of France, less than one-fourth the debt of England, less by nearly five hundred millions than the debt of Russia, less by a quarter of a million than the debt of poor, poverty-stricken Austria. This does not look very much like bankruptcy, nor like abandoning the war for the want of resources. On the contrary, the facts all go to prove that we are the richest and most powerful people on the face of the earth:

STATEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DEBT UP TO APRIL 1.

THE NEW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ROOMS IN MILWAUKEE.

ADDRESS OF THOS. WHITNEY, ESQ., AT THE OPENING.

WE have frequently referred to the many advantages to be derived from well organized Boards of Trade in all our cities, by cultivating identity of interest and establishing unanimity of action in all great and important movements or enterprises effecting the trade and commerce of the country. Any new movement, therefore, indicating energy and life in an old organization we are glad to see. About four years ago a Board of Trade was established at Milwaukee, in a basement room, with about fifty members. There was doubt whether it had sufficient vitality to drag through its first year's existence. Two other unsuccessful attempts had been made on previous occasions to organize a similar institution, and it was therefore with fear and trembling that this new fledgeling was put upon its legs. But this time the undertaking seemed animated with a new life. Probably old failures taught wisdom, and very likely, too, the leaders in this third movement indoctrinated it with a larger proportion of Western energy and perseverance than blessed the former efforts. At all events, it proved a success and advanced one step after another until now it boasts two hundred and seventy live members, with new and ele-· gant rooms for their meetings. On the occasion of opening these new rooms, (February 3, 1863,) THOMAS WHITNEY, Esq., delivered an address, which is full of interesting facts, well put together. We are persuaded that the wealth and power of the West is not appreciated by the mass of people East. An able article will be found in this number of the Mer chants' Magazine, showing a few of its resources and giving some idea of its future. We now add quite extensive extracts from Mr. WHITNEY's address, furnishing, as it does, an excellent resumé of the State's past history. In speaking of the trade of the State, he says:

Its origin and growth are not only within the recollection of many of our citizens, but within the experience of quite a number. It is only a few short years since the entire domain, stretching west from the shore of Lake Michigan, was one vast uncultivated tract, with scarcely a furrow upon the surface of this great area to break the quiescent state in which nature had left it. Since the only pursuits followed by the inhabitants of this section of the country were those of hunting and fishing, and the only commerce of our State was that with the red man of the forest.

Surprising as it may seem, no longer ago than 1836, only twenty-seven years since, this entire State, which has an area of soil greater than that of Maryland, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Con

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necticut, and Delaware combined-greater than that of New York, Connecticut, and Delaware, and equal to the combined area of Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, which now numbers its 800,000 souls, only contained a population, all told, of 11,686 persons.

Six years previous, in 1830, thirty-three years ago, there were but 3,245 persons within the length and breadth of what was then the Territory of Wisconsin.

From 1840 to 1850 the growth of our State in population was unprecedented in the history of this nation. Never since the foundation of this government was there increase equal to it. Our sister States of Illinois and Iowa did nobly during the decade referred to, but it was left to Wisconsin alone to outstrip all of those States which had gone before her. The ratio of increase in Illinois from 1840 to 1850 was 79 per cent; of Iowa, 346 per cent; that of Wisconsin, 887 per cent-from 31,000 in 1840 to 305,000 in 1850. Only in two instances since 1800 had 50 per cent of this increase ever been reached by any State or Territory in or of the Union. Indiana increased from 1810 to 1820, 500 per cent, and Michigan, from 1830 to 1840 571 per cent. With these two exceptions, no State had ever before grown with half the rapidily of our own from 1840 to 1850.

Since that time, however, our extraordinary growth, which I have just described to you, has been entirely eclipsed and obscured by our sister State of Minnesota, whose ratio of increase, from 1850 to 1860, was 2,761 per cent.

The ratio of increase in the whole United States from 1850 to 1860, was but 35 per cent. In the Northwest, 68 per cent; in Wisconsin, 150 per cent, and in Minnesota, as I have just stated, 2,761 per cent, leaving Wisconsin the second State in the Union distinguished for rapidity of growth.

Massachusetts has 158 inhabitants to the square mile; we have as yet only 14,4 Massachusetts has a little over 4 acres to each inhabitant; we have 441.

The entire product of our agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing interests in 1840, which is as early as we have any data respecting the condition and growth of our State, was but $4,149,946; in 1860, it was $75,658,640-a gain in the product of our State, in twenty years, of $71,508,694. The value of our agricultural products alone has increased from $2,689,959 in 1840, to $47,149,730 in 1860-a gain in our agricultural products in twenty years of $44,459,771.

In 1850 (we have no report of our farms in 1840,) we had 2,976,658 acres in farms; in 1860, 7,889,170 acres-a gain in the area of our farms, in ten years, of 4,922,512 acres. The area of our farms exceeds that of the area of the entire State of Massachusetts.

The value of our farming lands in 1850 was $28,500,000; in 1860 $131,000,000-a gain in the value of our farms, in ten years, since 1850 of $102,500,000.

Our agricultural implements used in tilling the soil have increased in value $4,117.279 in ten years; from $1,641,568 in 1850, to $5,758,847 in 1860. In 1850 we had 1,046,000 acres of land under cultivation; in 1860, 3,746,036 acres-an increase in ten years, since 1850, of 2,700,036 acres of cultivated land in our State. Our cultivated land equals that of the entire area of the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

In 1840 we had 40,682 acres of land devoted to cereals; in 1850, 490,735 acres; and in 1860, 1,966,500-1,925,818 acres more in 1860 than in 1840, and 1,475,765 more than in 1850.

The tillage of wheat-our chief agricultural staple and article of export -was, in 1840, 815,151 acres; in 1850, 306,152 acres; and in 1861, according to our Secretary's report, 1,112,600 acres-an increase of 1,097,449 acres of wheat since 1840, and of 806,448 acres since 1850.

Michigan, which had a larger population in 1830 than we had in 1840, and Iowa, which was in 1840 double our size, each now have about the same population, and yet the wheat product of neither equals that of Wisconsin at the present time, within about 50 per cent.

Our cereal crop has grown from 1,020,000 bushels in 1840 to 56,051,000 in 1861-a gain of 55,031,000 bushels since 1840, and of 45.991,000 bushels since 1850, when our cereal crop amounted to but 10,060,000 bushels.

Our cereal crop of 1861 was 31,414,000 bushels greater than the cereal crop of all the New England States in 1860.

Our wheat crop in 1840 yielded 212,000 bushels; in 1850, 4,286,000; in 1860, 15,812,000; and in 1861, according to our State report, 27,316,000. Wisconsin is now the second wheat producing State in the Union. Illinois alone grows more wheat than we do. Our wheat crop for 1861 was 3,000,000 bushels greater than that of Ohio, New York, and all the New England States combined for 1860; greater than the entire wheat crop of Canada of the same year.

The increase of our wheat crop from 1850 to 1861-over 23,000,000 bushels-was equal to one-third of the increase in all the States and Territories of the Union from 1850 to 1860. The increase of the whole Uni- . ted States, including the Territories, from 1850 to 1860, was but about 70,000,000 bushels, or about 70 per cent-from 100,000,000 to 170,000,000 of bushels-while the wheat crop of Ohio showed no increase from 1850 to 1860; and while that of New York showed a decrease of 40 per cent during this period, that of Wisconsin showed an increase of 275 per cent.

The average of our wheat crop in 1850 was fourteen bushels to the acre, while in 1861, according to our State returns, it was twenty-four and-a-half bushels to the acre. The largest known yield of Ohio was about seventeen bushels; of Michigan, nineteen; of Massachusetts, sixteen.

The average of the wheat crop of France is thirteen bushels; England twenty-one; Flanders, twenty-three; Scotland, thirty. So we see that with a mere nominal comparative cost of production, the average crop of Wisconsin, for 1861, exceeded that of either France, England, or Flanders, where wheat culture is carried to a very high state of perfection, and was only exceeded by that of Scotland.

But it must be borne in mind, in looking over these figures, that our crop of 1861 was a very prolific one, and one such as is seldom harvested any of our wheat growing States.

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Our corn crop increased from 379,359 bushels in 1840, to 7,565,290 bushels in 1860. The increase from 1850 to 1860 was 5,576,000 bushels. Although not a corn State, yet in but four States-Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, and California-has the ratio of the increase of this crop been greater since 1850, than in our own.