of the New England colonies for three years prior to 1700, and different periods thereafter to 1780, may not be unacceptable :

Exports and Imports of the New England Colonies.

Under the restrictive policy of England, while the Americans remained in a colonial state, their great staples could only be carried to the parent country, and all imports from Europe came through the same channels. Hence, as will be seen by the tables before given, that during the whole period from 1697 down to the period of the revolution, the imports from the mother country greatly exceeded the exports, and the burden of the balance of indebtedness falling mostly on New England, the evils of such a state of things were severely felt. And with a view to secure the dependence of the colonies, they were entirely prohibited from carrying on manufactures which would interfere with those of a similar kind in the mother country.

After the close of the revolutionary war, the commerce of New Hampshire gradually increased until the period when the acts of non-intercourse, embargo, and other steps preceding the war of 1812, took place. During the war a large number of vessels were laid up, some were lost, others sold or broken up, and their registers surrendered. On the conclusion of peace the tonnage of the port again went up to its former amount; the fishing business was resumed, and the carrying and coasting trade increased. Öf the value of the latter no accurate account can be given; but it is very large. For a few years past the navigation of Portsmouth has increased, and the trade coastwise and to Europe has nearly doubled.

The American tonnage employed in the fisheries is almost exclusively owned in New England, and principally in Massachusetts; the proportion held by that state, in a series of twenty years, having been rather more than four to one, as compared to the whole population; but the proportion of tonnage employed in these pursuits, held by the citizens of Portsmouth, the only port in New Hampshire, when compared with that of Boston, the principal mart of Massachusetts, is very nearly equal; that for Portsmouth being about 412 tons to each inhabitant, and that of Boston being only about 458.

For some years considerable attention has been given to the mackerel fishery, and also to the whale fishery, by a company formed for that purpose. The quantity of dried and smoked fish produced in 1839, was 28,257 quintals; and of whale and other fish oils, 45,234 gallons.

The following table of imports and exports, from 1791 to 1839, will give a tolerably correct view of the direct commerce of New Hampshire :

Statement of the Value of the Imports and Exports at Portsmouth, from

1791 to 1839.

Shipbuilding, though less extensively pursued than in some former years, is carried on to some extent at Portsmouth. The following table exhibits the number, class, and tonnage of those built within the last few years :VESSELS BUILT AT PORTSMOUTH.

Years. Ships. Brigs. Schooners. Total number. Total tonnage.

The value of the ships and vessels built in 1839, is estimated at $78,000.

Having thus examined, somewhat at length, the commerce of New Hampshire, as connected with its agriculture and domestic trade, a brief view of the resources of the state may not be out of place here. As before remarked, New Hampshire is favored by nature with but a single

port, and that is situated in the southeasterly corner of the state, isolated in a considerable degree from a larger portion of the natural trade of the interior, which finds its way down the valleys of the Merrimack to Massachusetts, or of the Connecticut to Hartford. Neither is New Hampshire, by nature, an agricultural state. The elements of her early prosperity were found in the extensive forests of timber which once covered the state; and after those disappeared, in the unsurpassed water-power which exists in every county of the state. Doctor Franklin, than whom a more accurate observer never lived, some years before the revolution remarked, that the great waterpower possessed by this then colony, must in the end form the source of its prosperity. The establishment of the large manufacturing towns of Dover, Nashua, New Market, &c., and of the new manufacturing town at Amoskeag, which is growing up to be in the end the rival of its elder sister, Lowell, attest the wisdom of his observation.

Wherever manufactures spring up into life, there better markets are created for the farming community; and agriculture, which before drooped, revives, and its beneficial results are multiplied. The hardy soil of New Hampshire has been improved and cultivated by as industrious a community, perhaps, as ever lived, until the products of that state, notwithstanding the disadvantages alluded to, have risen to a relative amount and value scarcely inferior to those of any other state. The following tables, which are prepared from the returns of the census of 1840, show at a glance the nature and extent of the agricultural products of New Hampshire. Ant estimate of the value of these products is added, based upon the average market prices in that state for a series of years. It should be borne in mind, in examining the results here given, that the whole area of this state embraces but a little more than six millions of acres, including the lakes and ponds, and those vast piles of mountains which have, not inappropriately, given it the name of the granite state.

Returns of the polls and rateable estate in New Hampshire are made under the requisition of the state, once in four years, for the purpose of equalizing the proportion of taxes among the different towns. The returns made to the legislature in November, 1840, exhibit the following aggregates:

The number of rateable polls, or persons liable to be taxed,

and entitled to vote,

Estimated value of real estate, taxable,

Number of horses, four years old, 39,442

57,145

$54,685,026*

1,646,909

100,122

44,492

1,581,602

87,913

848,951

69,228

1,003,815

517,536

1,049,326

2,975,799

7,285,248

164,865

218,289

bank stock and money,

other stocks,

Number of carriages,

*Under the direct tax appraisals made by authority of the U. S. in 1798, 1813, and 1815, the valuation of real estate in New Hampshire was as follows::

Value of lands, houses, &c., { $23,175,046 93

1798.

1813. 1815. $36,957,825 $38,745,974

The total number of dwelling houses in New Hampshire in 1798, was 11,142.

STATEMENT EXHIBITING THE PRODUCTS, RESOURCES, &c., OF NEW HAMPSHIRE,

23,467 21,498 9,117
158,284 146,996 156,838
67,945 41,808

362,027 220,830

194,685 182,359 151,146 222,594

59,668 1,580,791 1,580,791

The number of stores and trading-houses in New Hampshire is 1026, employing a capital of $2,378,922; and there are eighteen commercial houses, engaged in the foreign trade, which employ a capital of $1,330,600, There are 435 grain mills, and 3 flouring mills. There are 878 sawmills 151 fulling mills; 17 iron furnaces, and 251 tanneries.

s;

There are 55 cotton manufactories, with $5,529,200 capital invested, employing 6,886 persons, and producing $4,142,484 value of goods an, nually.

There are 67 woollen manufactories, having $758,145 capital invested, employing 893 persons, and producing $2,795,784 value of cloths an nually.

There are 13 paper manufactories, 36 printing-offices, 22 book-binderies, &c., &c.

The value of home-made, or family goods produced, is $536,137—and the value of various other manufactures not mentioned above, is given at over $1,000,000 annually.

The whole number of persons engaged in agricultural pursuits in New Hampshire, is 67,935; the number engaged in commerce, 1382; in the navigation of the ocean, lakes, and rivers, 706; and in manufactures, 17,706. The total male population in 1840, was 139,326. Total population, 284,481. The increase during the last ten years has been but 14,848, which is less than the actual gain of the manufacturing towns.

The growth of the manufacturing villages may be seen by the following data. In 1820, the population of Dover was 2871; it is now 6458. Dunstable (now Nashua) then numbered a population of 1142; now 6054, Somersworth, in 1820, had 841 inhabitants, where there are now 3283; New-Market, 1083, where there are now 2746; and in Manchester (Amoskeag,) where, in 1830, there were only 887 inhabitants, there are now 3235. In the same proportion that the growth of manufactures has been fostered, has the value of all the surrounding country been increased. The farmer has found a better market for his surplus productions and better prices. His lands have trebled in value, and he has become independent and wealthy from these causes. He finds a ready demand for any thing he may have to sell, in his own neighborhood, often at his own doors. The enlightened legislators of New Hampshire have foreseen the advantages of protecting the interests of the manufacturer, as identified with that of the agriculturist; and will no doubt continue to extend all proper encouragement to that branch of industry, as the best means of ensuring the permanent wealth and prosperity of the state.

In estimating the natural resources of New Hampshire, its deposits of iron and copper, and immense quantities of granite suited to the purposes of building, claim consideration. A geological survey, under the authority. of the state, is now in progress, conducted by one of the most skilful geologists of New England. His examinations have already brought to light the existence of several extensive beds of iron, and a valuable one of limestone, not hitherto known, which will prove sources of great profit to the state. Iron exists in many parts of the state. The ore which has hitherto been chiefly worked is at Franconia and Lisbon, in the northerly part of the state, and is considered one of the richest in the United States, yielding from 60 to 75 per cent. Ores of copper are found also at Franconia, Warren, Eaton, and other places, which want only a judicious investment of capital and labor to develop their treasures. A very rich mine of tin