"SAVINGS BANKS-HOW THEY GET RICH."

The Albany Atlas publishes under the above caption some editorial remarks and suggestions which deserve the attention of our state legislatures. In republishing them, our cotemporary of the Wall Street Journal, who has "printed column after column on the subject," trusts that the coming legislature of New York will thoroughly investigate it. The Atlas says, as will be seen below, that a million dollars, including interest, of unclaimed deposits, are lying in the savings banks of New York, while the editor of the Journal thinks that instead of that amount, there are not less than five millions of dollars due the widows' and orphans' fund. We should say that there were at least $3,000,000 in all the savings banks, now unclaimed. We therefore hope the subject will be investigated not only in New York, but in some other States. We shall endeavor to recur to the subject, in the pages of the Merchants' Magazine, at an early day. In the meantime we give below the remarks of the Atlas:

Some of the most magnificent structures in New York and Philadelphia are savings banks, built from the deposits of the "laboring people," and to many it seems a sort of mystery how this can be. Men grow rich, build fine houses, sport carriages, and make a great dash in the world, out of the successful management of these same "benevolent institutions," and a good many people wonder how this can be.

Depositors die without drawing out their deposits. They are strangers, and no heir appears to claim the money. Many deposit secretly-some actuated by a miserly and avaricious disposition, some to avoid publicity and to evade creditors, and when they die the secret of their deposit dies with them. These unclaimed deposits remain, and are regarded as the legitimate property of somebody besides the depositors. This is one source of profit, and a very large one. Savings banks, as a general thing, are connected with banks of discount and deposit, and whatever the theory may be, in regard to investment, the deposits in some shape come to be substituted for, or at all events used as capital on which the latter banks operate. Judiciously managed, the banks of discount and deposit pay a dividend (including surplus funds) of from eight to twelve per cent. This leaves a margin of from three to seven per cent between the interest paid and the interest received on the deposits, and this is another source of profit. There may be, and doubtless are, other advantages derived from the use of these deposits, but these alone show how this sort of " philanthropic institutions" may be and are made to pay.

Now, we by no means intend to say one word against savings banks, against their policy when established, or the manner in which they are generally managed. We regard them as good things, and beneficial to the people. But their claim to the character of benevolent institutions is apocryphal, to say the least of it. There is one thing in which the people of this State have an interest, rights which they should insist upon, and we affirm that the legislature fails in its duty if it does not provide for the enforcing of these rights. When a man dies without kindred and no heir appears to claim his estate, it goes by the law to the State, and its proceeds go into the public treasury, to be disposed of as the people through their representatives may direct. This is right, in strict accordance with the principles of natural equity, for property which no living individual has labored for, which no individual living has created or accumulated, nor has any legal right to appropriate, should be used and disposed of for the benefit of all.

There are now to-day lying in the savings banks of this State, according to the most intelligent estimate, more than one million, including interest, of unclaimed deposits. These deposits (assuming that they have not been squandered or applied to individual uses) were made in small sums, by strangers, foreigners, men without known kindred, by sailors, soldiers, servant men and servant women, who have "died and made no sign." These deposits have lain there for years, some ten, some twenty, some thirty, and some forty or fifty years, and no heir ever has or ever will in all probability, appear to claim them. To whom do these heirless treasures belong? Not to the trustees of these institutions, for they are abundantly paid for the care bestowed upon their management. Not to the other depositors, for they can claim only their own. They belong of right and by the law of the land to the public treasury, upon the principle that the State is heir to the heirless.

Should not the State claim its own? Is anybody wronged by it? Are anybody's rights invaded? If it is asked, What if the heirs appear to claim the inheritance is not that inheritance as safe in the hands of the State as in those of the trustees? And will not the State be as ready to restore it to the rightful heir as the trustees will be? And see what good could be done with this million. These unclaimed deposits were made as we said, by sailors, soldiers, servant men and women, and laboring poor people. Let them be applied for asylums, schools, and hospitals for the poor, the class that furnished them. In this way the duty and the interests of the State will be served, the right thing will be done, and no man will be wronged. There are other matters connected with some of these "philanthropic institutions" which the legislature should understand, and which the people should know, but of which this may not be the proper time to speak.

CONDITION OF THE BANKS IN BOSTON.

In the Merchants' Magazine for July, 1854, (vol. xxxi., pages 97-98,) we gave an abstract of the Massachusetts act of April 15th, 1854, requiring a weekly statement of the condition of the banks in Boston, and monthly returns of those in the State out of Boston. This act went into operation in June, and the first weekly statement was published on the 5th of that month. In the number of this Magazine alluded to above we gave under our abstract of the law, the first statement, showing the condition of each bank in Boston on the 5th of June, 1854. The following table, which we have compiled from the official returns made to the Secretary of State, shows the leading features of the banks in Boston, each week, since the 5th of June (when the act took effect,) to the present time, (Sept. 18th, 1854.),

The per centage of taxation at this time is less than at any former period in the present century. During the war period of 1800-1810 it was £5 11s. per head, now it is less than £2. At the five decennial periods of the present century the total taxation was as follows:

The greatest amount realized by Great Britain during any one year was in 1813£108,397,000, and in 1814 £105,698,000. This included sums raised by loans. During these years taxation was at its highest point, viz.: £68,748,000 in 1818, £71,134,000 in 1814, and £72,210,000 in 1815. Taxation, in amount and per capita, has since materially lessened, and the net produce in 1852 was £48,803,283.

RATES OF EXCHANGE IN NEW ORLEANS.

The following table shows the comparative rates of exchange at New Orleans on London, Paris, and New York, on the first of each month for the three years specified, on sixty-day bills:

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE UNITED STATES.

The receipts of the United States for the quarter ending June 30th, 1854, according to the official statement of the Register of the Treasury, were as follows:

The expenditures during same time were for civil, miscellaneous, and foreign intercourse, $3,842,906; payment under 3d article of treaty with Mexico of Dec. 30, 1853, $7,000,000; pensions and Indian department, $401,726; war, including army proper, fortifications, armories, and arming militia, horses, &c., $3,074,701; navy, including pay of navy, steam mail-service, &c., 2,593,002. The payments of interest on public debt, redemption of stock, and premium on stock redeemed amounted to $6,832,765. The entire disbursements of the Treasury during the quarter amounted to $23,745,102.

HOW TO PREVENT BANK NOTE COUNTERFEITS.

We find in one of our exchanges, the following suggestions, as to the means for the prevention of bank note counterfeits:

Let the presidents of all the banks in this city, or even all in the Union, have a meeting by appointment at some central point, and resolve upon this method. First, appoint one manufacturer of bank note paper, to manufacture, for each bank that may have a representative at the meeting, paper of a reddish or bluish cast, each bill hav ing upon it the name of the maker, president, and cashier of the bank for which it is intended, in what is called a water line, as in the old English letter paper. Let it be secured by patent, and the restrictions imposed upon the maker, be as stringent as those upon the manufacturer of government envelopes.

Few bills are in circulation so well executed as to deceive the initiated, and with the above guard placed upon them, the making of counterfeit paper money would pay the manufacturers but little profit, and would force them to seek some more honorable or dishonorable employment that would pay them better. The expense to each bank would be of no account whatever, when compared with the check upon roguery which this plan suggests.

THE NEW CANADIAN CURRENCY.

The act regulating the currency of Canada passed in 1853, went into operation on the first of August, 1854. The legal value of the dollar is, under this act, five shillings of the present Canada currency, and that of the cent one-hundredth of a dollar. Business transactions in either currency will be legal.

IMPORTS OF SPECIE INTO NEW ORLEANS.

The imports of specie into New Orleans for the undermentioned five years have been as follows-years ending 31st of August :

THE CANALS AND OTHER PUBLIC WORKS OF NEW YORK.*

NUMBER IV.

THE COST AND CHARGES OF TRANSPORT.

This subject was considered at some length in my last annual report. The views therein presented will be incorporated in the present examination.

An investigation of the comparative advantages of the several channels of communication between the seaboard and the interior, requires an examination into the cost and charges of transport by the various modes of land and water conveyance.

The charges cannot be relied upon, in this investigation, because they fluctuate on the various routes and on the different articles conveyed; competition reducing them to a minimum and monopoly raising them to a maximum.

The cost, however, furnishes a more reliable basis for comparison, as the elements upon which it depends are usually affected alike on the different routes.

These elements consist of loading, conveying, discharging, warehousing, insurance, and in artificial channels, the necessary expenses of maintenance and to repay the cost of construction.

The cost of loading and discharging depends upon the price of labor and the facilities afforded, and the cost of insurance upon the character of the navigation.

The cost of conveyance upon the ocean is constant, but the charges are the least from that port at which is concentrated the largest amount of trade, and which possesses a favorable climate and the greatest advantages for reaching the open sea.

New York possessing these advantages, and those of concentrating at its harbor through the influence of the great internal channels of Commerce, the trade of the most extended and fertile district of the interior of the country, has thus become the chief commercial center of this continent.

The chain of western lakes terminating on the borders of this State, furnishes a transport second only to that of the ocean.

The duration of navigation upon them is limited in consequence of the closing of the harbors during the winter season.

For the first number of this series of papers (derived from the admirable report of W. J. MCALPINE, Esq., State Engineer and Surveyor,) exhibiting a comprehensive history of "The Progress of Internal Improvements in the State of New York," see Merchants' Magazine for July, 1854, (volume xxxi., pages 123-126). For number 2, relating to "The Canals and Railroads as a Depen dent System,” see Merchants' Magazine for August, 1854, (vol. 31, pages 247-249,) and for number 3, relating to "the Extension of Trade and Travel beyond the State of New York," see same for Septem ber, 1854, (vol. xxxi., pages 374-377.)

The Hudson affords an example of the best description of river navigation, in consequence of the uniformity of the flow and the smoothness and depth of its waters, allowing the use of either sail or steam vessels, and of light hulls; thereby increasing the proportion of the weight of the cargo to the whole weight moved.

The Mississippi and its larger branches have the advantage of a long route and a current of from three to six miles an hour in the direction of the greatest tonnage. The fluctuations of their waters and the obstructions of their channels, the higher price of labor, and the necessity of employing steam vessels exclusively, and the hazards of the navigation, increase the cost of transportation on these waters.

The cost of movement on a canal depends upon the relative sectional areas of the boat and of the canal-upon the actual size of the two, and upon the elevation to be

overcome.

The suspension of navigation upon the northern water lines increases the cost of transportation upon them, as the loss of time and the interest upon the capital invested is charged upon the business done during the limited portion of the year in which they are navigable.

The cost of movement upon a railroad depends upon the amount of the curvature, the inclination of its gradients and the elevation to be overcome, and its limited capacity in comparison with its cost.

The cost of transport on artificial works is increased by the tax necessary to be levied to give a remuneration for the capital invested, and also to pay the current expenses of operating and maintaining the work.

The other circumstances constituting the expense of these modes of transport will be treated of in a subsequent part of this report.

Having thus given the characteristics of the different modes of transport, it becomes necessary to state the actual cost of each, for the purpose of making a practical application to the several channels of trade between the interior and the sea coast.

In arriving at these genera lresults, it will not be necessary to regard those fluctuations of trade and Commerce tending to increase or diminish the cost of transport, which are of only a temporary character.

The following table shows the distances traveled by sailing vessels and the ordinary charges from American ports to England, France, the West Indies, and Souh America, by which it will be seen as has been previously remarked, that the charges from New York to the principal importing ports of the world are less than from any other American city. The tables furnish the charges, and the cost may be assumed at twothirds of these charges.

The rates of freight specified may be considered (they are as far as can be ascertained) a fair average freight of vessel's capacity for the past three years. To Rio Janeiro the freights are low proportionately, as the return freights are generally good.