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THE WAREHOUSING SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE Tariff Act of August, 1861, section 5, provides as follows:

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all goods, wares and merchandise actually on shipboard and bound to the United States, and all goods, wares and merchandise on deposit in warehouses or public stores at the date of the passage of this act, shall be subject to pay such duties as provided by law before and at the time of the passage of this act: And provided further, That all goods deposited in public store or bonded warehouse after this act takes effect and goes into operation, if designed for consumption in the United States, must be withdrawn therefrom, or the duties thereon paid in three months after the same are deposited; and goods designed for exportation and consumption in foreign countries may be withdrawn by the owner at any time before the expiration of three years after the same are deposited; such goods, if not withdrawn in three years, to be regarded as abandoned to the government, and sold under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, and the proceeds paid into the Treasury: Provided, That merchandise, upon which the owner may have neglected to pay duties within three months from the time of its deposit, may be withdrawn and entered for consumption at any time within two years of the time of its deposit, upon the payment of the legal duties, with an addition of 25 per centum thereto: Provided, also, That merchandise upon which duties have been paid, if exported to a foreign country within three years, shall be entitled to return duties, proper evidence of such merchandise having been landed abroad to be furnished to the collector by the importer, one per centum of said duties to be retained by the government.

SOME REASONS WHY GOODS OUGHT TO BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN BOND FOR THREE OR FIVE YEARS.

What the Treasury wants is revenue. If it can be shown that the three months' bonding system will kill the goose that lays the golden egg, much will be done, no doubt, towards restoring the old regulation, allowing three years to take goods out of bond.

Under the three years' bonding system a business had grown up in the United States, unknown before, at least in its extent, which business helped, in a considerable degree, the sale and export of American manufactured goods and produce. Able to find, under that system, in our bonded warehouses, the manufactures and produce of England, France, Spain, Asia and other regions, merchants of this and of other countries made up assorted cargoes for the West Indies, South America, Africa, and even the East Indies, and, along with the foreign article, American merchandise would be taken. Under the short bonding system this business, which was fast making the United States the commercial mart of the world, is lost to the country, and the cities of New-York, Phila

delphia and Boston will feel its effects, not only in the loss of what trade of the kind had been already established, but yet more in the loss of the expansion which that trade was taking, which was great, and, but for the unfortunate change, would have been lasting.

The writer has himself imported goods, and kept them in bond three years without selling them, at the expiration of which time he has had to ship them again to a foreign port, and re-import them, to get another three years' extension. This is mentioned only to show that the time of three years is not by any means too long, if long enough; for here there is a double freight and incidental expense lost, which a more liberal system would have saved.

The idea that revenue will come in quicker under the three months' system will probably be found a delusion. The only effect of this system will be to prevent importation, and it will most certainly, at times, cause a great rise in prices of any article not imported in sufficient quantity, and not found in market to supply a sudden demand. High prices stop consumption, and, therefore, the revenue must suffer. Under the three or five years' system goods will be warehoused, and duties paid on them whenever the consumption of the country will demand it; and, inasmuch as it will have a tendency to keep prices moderate, the revenue will be benefited by the duties on the increased consumption of a cheaper article. Much more might be said on the subject, but the foregoing is deemed sufficient to call for a return to the more beneficial and liberal provision of our former revenue laws. A perseverance in the present system will lose revenue to the customs, and cause a great loss to our trading community, our ships, our manufacturers and mechanics.

New-York, January 8, 1862.

MERCATOR.

THE ENGLISH WAREHOUSING SYSTEM.

Section 103, of the British warehousing act, provides: Goods warehoused, not cleared for home use or exportation within five years, must be re-warehoused; and duties on deficiencies and expense of examination, to be paid down. All warehoused goods shall be cleared, either for home use or exportation, at the expiration of five years from the date of warehousing; or within such further period, and in such cases, as the commissioners of the treasury shall direct, unless the owner or proprietor of such goods be desirous of re-warehousing them, in which case they shall be examined by the proper officers, and the duties due upon any deficiency or difference between the quantity ascertained on landing and the quantity then found to exist, subject to such allowances as are by law permitted in respect thereof, together with the necessary expense attendant thereon, shall be paid down; and the quantity so found shall be re-warehoused in the name of the then owner or proprietor thereof, in the same manner as on the first importation.

JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.

I. SIR W. ARMSTRONG ON PLATED SHIPS. II. THE FUR TRADE. III. MANUFACTURE OF SHOES. IV. COCHINEAL IN INDIA. V. A POWERFUL GUN. VI. LAKE SUPERIOR COPPER REGION. VII. LUCIFER MATCHES. VIII. SIR E. MURCHISON. IX. SALE OF LAWRENCE MACHINE SHOP. X. RECENT ITALIAN INVENTIONS. XI. UPPER LEATHER FOR SHOES. XII. COTTON PRINTING IN FRANCE. XIII. NEW PATENTS.

SIR W. ARMSTRONG ON IRON-PLATED SHIPS, & C.

THE annual meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers was opened at Sheffield, in November, Sir WILLIAM ARMSTRONG, the president, in the chair. There was a numerous attendance, and after the minutes of the previous meeting had been confirmed, the president delivered his annual address. Having spoken of the mechanical arts as applied to the purposes of peace, he alluded to the changes which the progress of science had necessitated in the machinery of war. "Our warlike neighbors, the French," he said, "always forward in every thing appertaining to war, have of late years devoted their energies to two most important subjects; the rifling of ordnance and the application of defensive armor to ships. Their advances have necessitated similar steps on our part, and we have certainly no reason to suppose that we are behind them in the race." Having described his own process of manufacturing ordnance, he observed: "With regard to the great question of the ultimate effect of artillery against ships protected by defensive armor, I believe that whatever thickness of iron may be adopted, guns will be constructed capable of destroying it. At the same time, I am of opinion, that iron-plated ships will be infinitely more secure against artillery than timber ships. The former will effectually resist every species of explosive or incendiary projectile, as well as solid shot from all but the heaviest guns, which can never be used in large numbers against them. In short, it appears to me to be a question between plated ships, or none at all, at any rate, so far as line-of-battle ships are concerned." Sir WILLIAM discussed at considerable length the question as to the most suitable plates for resisting shot; his opinion, upon the whole, being in favor of rolled rather than forged iron. Three papers were subsequently read by members of the institution, including one by Mr. HENRY BESSEMER, "On the manufacture of cast steel and its application to constructive purposes." After describing his process of making cast steel, Mr. BESSEMER said, one of the most special adaptations of such steel, was its suitability for the manufacture of ordnance. By his process, blocks of metal of any required size, from one to twenty or thirty tons weight, might be made of any tensile strength, and at Messrs. BESSEMER's works the most satisfactory results had been obtained in the manufacture of ordnance with the metal fused for piston rods. With the degree of toughness afforded by this metal, the bursting of the gun became almost impossible, as its power of resisting a tensile strain was fifteen tons a

square inch above that of the best English bar iron, and experiments that have been made showed that tubular pieces could be crushed flat without exhibiting any signs of fracture. An eighteen pounder was exhibited, and it was stated, that the erection of the necessary apparatus for the production of steel by this process, inclusive of air-pumps and steam-engine, on a scale capable of producing from crude iron enough steel to make forty such gun blocks per day, would not exceed a cost of £5,000.

THE FUR TRADE.

Mink sable and Siberian squirrel furs are those most in demand, and are considered most fashionable. Although the demand for this class of furs is very great, yet, owing to the great supply, and the facility with which they are obtained, the prices are moderate. The best quality of mink sable is found in Maine; it is also procured in the Hudson Bay regions, the northwest, and found in small quantities in this State.

The most expensive of all furs is the Russian sable, which sell from $500 to $1,500 per set. This quality of fur is very scarce, and, besides, their exportation from Russia has been prohibited by the Emperor. Those that reach this country are smuggled away. The Hudson Bay sable is also quite scarce and expensive, being sold as high as $100 to $600 per set.

The opussum and muskrat furs abound in great quantities, and are easily obtained. Fitch is but little in demand, although a few years since it was much sought after. Buffalo skins are obtained in Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Northern Texas. Each year this animal becomes scarcer, and before many years they will doubtless be extinct. The animals are shot by the Indians and others, who sell the skins to traders. The hides are worth from three to twelve dollars apiece. The finest skins are greatly in demand by military officers, who use them instead of blankets, for which they are found far superior.

Many beaver skins, bought by dealers, are shipped by them to England, where they are used extensively for cloak linings. This animal is found among the Rocky Mountains and in the British dominions, and does not, as many suppose, decrease each year, although, it is said, they push farther west. The quantity of beaver skins obtained this year is equally as great as has been procured for several years back. Very few are now found about Lake Superior, where they were a few years since in great numbers.

Fur dealers resort to numerous tricks, by which they can dye furs of a common quality, and give them the appearance of those more rare. The price of all furs varies according to their shades of color and their scarcity. This business, although one of profit, yet involves considerable risk and outlay.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES. We recently examined, at the store of F. S. VANDERPOEL, No. 60 Liberty-street, an invention which is attracting the attention of shoe and leather manufacturers. It is known as "HENRY PORT'S Patent," and in

several particulars is very peculiar. The object is to facilitate the making of boots and shoes.

In the process here adopted, the shank and heel is of vulcanized rubber, in one piece, with rivets imbedded-the latter being the projecting points of a skeleton, protruding themselves at regular distances near the margin of the last. The uppers are lasted in the ordinary way, on the patent notched last, this being nothing more than a plain iron surface with depression to receive the rivet for the purpose of clinching. A punch or guide to enter the rivets at their proper place on the notched last is then applied, by a single stroke. The entire bottom (composed of two distinct pieces-the half-sole and shank piece) is next adjusted to its place when another stroke clinches the whole in a finished shoe-nothing more being necessary than to substitute a smooth ironfaced last for the notched one, which effectually flattens the rivets.

The shoe thus made is claimed to be, as it really appears, as strong as any sewed work, and has an elasticity and softness of tread which commends it for use. Furthermore, the shank and heel being of rubber, are pronounced capable of outlasting the most durable upper. At the exhibition yesterday, a pair of shoes was made by hand in twenty minutes, after the upper was adjusted to the last; and we are informed that a single workman can easily turn out twenty-five pairs per day. Machinery is expected to work this patent with much greater efficiency. The patent, as we are informed, is offered for sale.

COCHINEAL IN INDIA.

An Indian correspondent of the London Globe has recently pointed out that the cochineal insect-the dye of which is at present, with the exception of a small quantity imported from Madeira, entirely derived from South America-is found over a vast tract of country in British India. It was introduced in 1801, when the lac insect was unknown, and cochineal was worth $7 a pound, by a gentleman of the name of DAWSON, tempted by a prize offered by the East India Company. The cactus, on which alone the insect flourishes, grows profusely throughout the southwestern provinces of the Indian peninsula. Within a very short time, the cochineal extended over 800 miles of country; but, as no persons who understood how to prepare the article for market had been introduced with the cochineal insect, the commercial speculation completely failed. In the course of time, the cochineal insect extended from Fort St. George, where it was landed, 4,000 miles inward. Here it is found in a wild state, but the natives have not yet learned how to use it for coloring silk and wool.

THE MOST POWERFUL GUN IN THE WORLD.

We are sure that none of our readers will fail to read the account, lately published, of the trial of the great Union gun. There have been guns made in Europe of much larger calibre than this, but none of them of sufficient strength to give any considerable velocity to the shot. This gun is twelve inches in diameter, and, being rifled, carries an elongated

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