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Statement of the Amount of Silver of Domestic Production, deposited at the Mint of the United States and its Branches, from January, 1841, to June 30, 1861:

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Prepared by the Director of the Mint, to accompany his Annual Report, in pursuance of the act of February 21, 1857.

Explanatory Remarks.

The first column embraces the names of the countries where the coins are issued; the second contains the names of coin, only the principal denominations being given; the other sizes are proportional; and when this is not the case, the deviation is stated.

The third column expresses the weight of a single piece in fractions of the troy ounce, carried to the thousandth, and in a few cases to the ten thousandth of an ounce. The method is preferable to expressing the weight in grains, for commercial purposes, and corresponds better with the terms of the Mint. It may be readily transferred to weight in grains by the following rule: Remove the decimal point; from onehalf deduct four per cent. of that half, and the remainder will be grains. The fourth column expresses the fineness in thousands, i. e., the number of parts of pure gold or silver in 1,000 parts of the coin.

The fifth and sixth columns of the first table express the valuation of gold. In the fifth, is shown the value as compared with the legal content, or amount of fine gold in our coin. In the sixth, is shown the value as paid at the Mint, after the uniform deduction of one-half of one per cent. The former is the value for any other purposes than recoinage, and especially for the purpose of comparison; the latter is the value in exchange for our coins at the Mint.

For the silver there is no fixed legal valuation-the law providing for shifting the price according to the condition of demand and supply. The present price of standard silver is 121 cents per ounce; at which rate the values in the fifth column of the second table are calculated. In a few cases, where the coins could not be procured, the data are assumed from the legal rates, and so stated.

GOLD AND SILVER COINS.

A statement of foreign gold and silver coins, prepared by the Director of the Mint to accompany his annual report, in pursuance of the act of February 21, 1857.

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Only the principal denominations of coin in each country are set down, other sizes being proportional. When this is not the case the deviation is stated.

The weight is given in the troy ounce, and decimal fraction: thereof, without

being carried out to an extreme. This method is preferable to the weight in grains for commercial uses, and corresponds better with the terms at the Mint.

The valuation of gold is given in two columns. In the first is shown the value as compared with the legal contents or amount of fine gold in our coin. In the second is shown the value as paid at the Mint after the uniform deduction of one-half of one per cent. The former is the value for any other purposes than re-coinage, and especially for the purpose of comparison; the latter is the value in exchange for our coins at the Mint.

For the silver there is no fixed legal valuation. The law provides for a shifting of price according to the circumstances of demand and supply. At the moment of making this report, the price, which previously was 122 cents per ounce of standard fineness, has been reduced to 121 cents, at which rate the ensuing values are calculated.

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THE COTTON QUESTION.

1. SUPPLY OF COTTON IN ENGLAND. 2. COTTON AT HAVRE. 8. COTTON SUPPLY IN THE UNITED STATES. 4. EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC COTTON FROM NEW-YORK AND BOSTON. 5. COTTON IN LIBERIA. 6. CULTIVATION OF COTTON IN AFRICA. 7. COTTON-GROWING IN TURKEY. 8. COTTON CULTURE IN INDIA. 9. COTTON-GROWING IN HAYTI. 10. COTTON IN TARTARY. 11. CorTON FROM PERU. 12. COTTON IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.

SUPPLY OF COTTON IN ENGLAND.

OUR English exchanges appear again to be haunted with the idea that their supply of cotton will soon be exhausted. And well they may be, if by exhaustion they mean working on short time and the shutting up of a large number of their manufactories. That there is now much distress in their manufacturing districts cannot admit of dispute; and that it will continue, is also equally certain, as long as cotton commands so high a price and cotton goods so low, whatever may be the supply of the raw material. But yet we do not believe that their stock will be exhausted, or that the exhibit to be made in July will be any less pleasantly-disappointing than the statement made in January.

In the first place, we think they underrate the amount to be received from other sources than America. The unusual efforts put forth for obtaining cotton, and the high price it commands, has prompted the planting of more, and will cause every pound produced to find the market. Hence no calculation can be made based on former supply from these sources. In proof of this remark, we would refer to the items of information respecting the cotton crop in the different parts of the world, published in former numbers of the MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE during the past year, and also to statements to be found below on the same subject. Perhaps, however, the point is as well illustrated as it can be, by the simple report of the exports of cotton from Bombay the last eleven months, compared with the amount exported during the same period the three former years. These are the figures:

Total amount exported from

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from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, Bombay 936,865.. 619,416.. 671,477.. 406,256

With the light of such a statement as this, how can one expect to make any calculation as to the future supply of cotton, based on what has heretofore been received from the same sources? If a few months can work such a change as to add a third to the supply from one source, what may we not expect, with the present high prices, when the wants of the world have become thoroughly known and appreciated?

Then, again, our own government is now obtaining small amounts of the raw material from the districts already occupied in the South, and each succeeding week will, we believe, find our army further south, and, of course, therefore, more will thus be reached. As yet, the English market has not received a bag of our crop of 1861. This cannot be so

much longer. Our government has, it is true, spent months in preparation, but that was necessary to equip and discipline our volunteer forces. From this time, however, we may expect our lines to advance, and we are confident that an outlet will thus soon be made for a large proportion of this entire crop. Still, even if this were not so, the most unfavorable statement that can be made shows that England will certainly have enough, without any supply from this country, for all her mills, (working on two-thirds time,) till the first of July, and no one can believe that this contest can be prolonged beyond that period, without at least furnishing the required relief to the commercial world.

We find the following statement in the London Economist. Speaking of the present supply of cotton, the writer says:

We have now, in round numbers, on January 1st, a stock of 700,000 bales. Working on an average two-thirds time, or not quite four days, the weekly consumption of our mills will be 30,000 bales. The weekly export has been, in 1861, 13,000 bales; but this will necessarily be somewhat curtailed by the high prices which obtain, and may probably not exceed 8,000. It is not possible to ascertain with absolute correctness what amount of cotton may fairly be expected from India, Egypt and Brazil in the course of the next six months, but it is generally estimated at about 300,000 bales. The case will, therefore, stand as follows:

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Consumption, 26 weeks, at 30,000 bales, about.. 780,000

Export, 26 weeks, at 8,000 bales,.

Stock July 1, 1862, .

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208,000

988,000

82,000

The following is from Messrs. MARRIOTT & Co.'s annual report of the Liverpool cotton market:

Bales.

The total stock of cotton remaining at the close of 1860 was 594,510 The total import of 1861 was.

3,035,728

Estimated decrease of stocks now held by the trade, as compared with those at the close of 1860,.....

110,000

3,740,238

Deduct stock remaining at the close of 1861,.. +702,831
Deduct the quantity exported,....

677,220

1,380,051

Total quantity taken for home consumption in 1861, 2,360,187

* In WILMER & SMITH'S European Times we see the amount in spinners' hands estimated at 80,000 bales, and that is about 140,000 below the amount held at the same period last year.

From these figures it appears that there was on hand, January 1, 1862, 108,321 bales more than in January, 1861. This, however, is not really a correct conclusion,

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