JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE. FINANCES OF BOSTON-PROPERTY AND TAXES. We are indebted to the Hon. WILLIAM PARMENTER for a copy of the Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the City of Boston and the County of Suffolk, for the financial year May 1, 1852, (both included,) 30th April, 1853. It is an interesting document, exhibiting a detailed account of the finances of that city. From this report we compile the following statement: 1852.. 1851. 1850. 1849 1848. VALUATION OF REAL AND PERSONAL ESTATE IN THE CITY OF BOSTON. The following table shows the total valuation of property in the years named, and The total tax for 1852 was $1,244,626, showing a decrease from 1851 of personal estate amounting to $1,607,700, being 2,045 per cent, and an increase of real estate over 1851 of $1,340,700, being 1,226 per cent. There is a poll tax in Massachusetts amounting to $1 50 per head. The number assessed at $1 50 in 1852, was 28,983 The valuation of real and personal property in 1852 was $187,680,000, and in 1842, $106,723,700, showing an increase in ten years in the value of property of nearly ninety millions of dollars. In Massachusetts the capital of banks and insurance corporations is assessed, and the stockholders are also assessed. For instance, a bank with $1,000,000 capital is put down in the valuation list for that amount, and the resident holders of stock are also assessed for the same as personal property. So that $1,000,000 appears as $2,000,000 in the valuation statements. In New York, the stockholders in banks, &c., are not assessed on the stock as personal property, consequently a capital stock of a million dollars appears in the valua tion of property for that amount only. This explains the apparent inequality in the assessed value of personal property in New York and Boston-or, in other words, the apparent disproportion of property to population in the two cities. Since the preparation of the foregoing “facts and figures,” we have obtained, from official sources, the subjoined statement of the valuation and taxes of Boston, &c., for (1853) the current year: The assessed valuation of the property of Boston for taxation in 1853, is as follows: Real estate Total...... This amount is taxed at $7 60 per $1,000..... There is a poll tax, assessed on 29,959 persons, at $1 50... Total tax.... Of which the State tax is .... The total valuation of the real estate for 1852, was.. $110,699,200 Increase in 1853. Total in 1853... $116,090,900 00 90,423,300 00 $206,514,200 00 1,569,507 92 44,938 50 $1,614,446 42 98,691 00 5,391,700 being 4.87 pr. ct. $116,090,900 The last State tax was in 1844, when the amount was $75,000. Of which the county of Suffolk paid or 34 22-100 per cent. The share of Boston was.. or 33 98-100 per cent of the whole. The share of Suffolk county was then divided as follows: Chelsea.... $300,000 100,842 98,691 1,764 387 98,691 $100,842 25,669 50 25,488 75 180 75 Boston 25,488 75 $25,669 50 From the above items respecting the State tax, it will be seen that Boston has nearly kept pace with the whole Commonwealth in the valuation of estates during the last decade. In 1844, Boston paid 33-98 of the whole State tax, and in 1858 her share is 32-90 per cent of the sum assessed in the Commonwealth. PRICE OF CONSOLS IN THE ENGLISH MARKET IN 1852. For the sake of comparison we annex the highest and lowest price of Consols in the English market for 1852, with the bullion and active circulation of the Banks. The decline in the price of Consols to 914, and in the amount of bullion in the bank to £15,600,000 indicates a great change in the features of the English market. The advance in the rate of interest during the same short period from 2 per cent to 5, shows a determination on the part of the bank to discourage speculation, which has increased largely for the last twelve months. INCREASE OF SPECIE IN the United STATES. The Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia) has been furnished by Col. Snowden, of the United States Mint, with the following statement of the deposits of American gold at that institution and all the branch mints, from the date of the discoveries in California up to July 30th, 1853: We have thus the amount of gold of California production received at the mints up to the 1st of November, except the deposits of the last three months at the branch mints, which are not likely to have been of sufficient magnitude to make them material to our purpose. The next thing to be considered is the amount of specie exported from the United States, and this we are enabled to exhibit with sufficient accuracy. Official documents show that the entire exports and imports of specie, from 1847 (the famine year) to 1853, were as follows: 25,000,000 $75,105,207 $203,886,025 97 75,105,207 00 $128,780,818 97 Add exports for first 10 months of 1853, as ascertained from returns and estimates, say Total exports of specie....... The whole question then may be briefly stated as follows: It will doubtless surprise many to see it thus clearly demonstrated that there is at the present time nearly one hundred and thirty millions more of specie in the United States than there was in 1846. BANKS OF NEW ORLEANS. The following comparative statement of the condition of the Canal, Citizens', Louisiana, and Louisiana State Banks, on the 24th September and the 29th of the preceding month, is condensed from the official reports of the Board of Currency : Besides this these banks have real estate, $1,106,951; public improvements, $1,111,615; loans on stock, $4,466,842; on mortgages, etc., $4,307,287; and other discounts and assets, $2,977,990; protested paper, $279,268-making a total in movement and dead weight, exclusive of capital, of $34,405,922. DEPOSITS OF GOLD AND SILVER BULLION AT THE U. S. MINT. The following is a comparative statement of the deposits at the mint during the first ten months of 1851, 1852, and 1853: 1853. 1852. 1851. 1853. 1852. 1851. Jan... $4,962,097 $4,161,688 $5,071,669 June.. $4,533,000 $6,689,474 $3,637,560 Feb... 3,548,523 3,010,222 3,004,970 July... 3,491,000 4,193,880 3,127,517 March 7,533,752 3,892,156 2,880,271 Aug... 5,370,800 2,671,563 4,135,812 April.. 4,766,000 3,091,037 2,878,353 Sept.. 3,027,805 4,253,687 4,046,799 May... 4,425,000 4,335,578 3,269,491 Oct... 5,317,162 4,140,069 4,743,534 Totals..... 46,146,714 40,439,354 36,795,526 The deposits of silver bullion at the mint during the first ten months of the present year have been as follows: The amount of specie subject to draft in the several depositories of the United States Treasury on the 24th ult., was $25,958,756, the principal amounts being held BANK DIVIDENDS IN BOSTON. The following table exhibits the capital of banks in Boston, and the semi-annual dividends declared payable on Monday, Oct. 3, 1853: Capital. Div. Amt. $500,000 4 $20,000 Hamilton Capital. Div. Amt. $500,000 4 $20,000 560,500 5 28,000 800,000 3 15,000 Massachusetts 24,000 The average dividends of Boston banks are larger than those of New York, although the rate of interest in the former city is one per cent less than in New York. UNITED STATES FEDERAL REVENUE. The annexed is a statement exhibiting the amount of duties received during the fiscal years ending June 30th, 1851-2-3, at ports of entry in the United States: COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES-REVENUE FROM CUSTOMS. 1,800,000 3 63,000 20,000 Suffolk 1,000,000 5 50,000 40,000 Traders' 600,000 4 24,000 20,000 Tremont... 1,000,000 4 40,000 1,000,000 4 40,000 ..... 500,000 3 17,500 24,810,000 980,250 There are one hundred and eight ports of entry in the United States, on the seaboard, on the great inland lakes, and on our great rivers. Sixteen ports are included in this statement. |