chorage must be paid again. But it is understood by the terms of this act that vessels discharging or receiving their whole cargo in one port, and then entering another port for the purpose of receiving or discharging said cargo, must the tax required by this act at each port which they enter.

pay

Taking and landing passengers is equal to loading and discharging goods in the application of this act, unless such shipments shall be for reason of illness, or in cases of distress.

All foreign vessels that are not by treaties admitted to privileges of reciprocity will be required to pay double the amount of said tax.

All vessels belonging to the navy of any nation are exempt from the payment of tax for anchorage.

SANITARY TAX.

All sailing vessels and steamers coming from Turkey, Egypt, Syria, the islands of the Ottoman Empire, America, and the western coast of Africa, will pay forty centimes (eight cents) per ton sanitary tax.

Vessels coming from other places will pay twenty centimes (four cents) per

ton.

Vessels having paid the sanitary tax in one port of the kingdom will not be liable to pay said tax upon entering other ports of the kingdom before sailing for a foreign port.

MEASUREMENT OF VESSELS.

The officers of the port measure all vessels entering the same, and decide upon the amount of their tonnage, and issue certificates to the captains of said amount, which said certificates will be good for three years, and will be recognized in any of the ports of the kingdom.

ENTERING THE GALLEY MOLE.

Each vessel entering the galley mole of any port of the kingdom for the purpose of repairs, &c., will be charged five centimes (one cent) per ton for the first thirty days' occupancy of said mole, and half a cent per ton additional for each thirty days' occupancy thereafter.

MARCH 31, 1862.

I have the honor to transmit herewith to the department my first quarterly returns of the business for this consulate for the quarter ended this day. You will observe that but six American vessels have arrived at this port during the quarter. The reasons for this small amount of our shipping at a port of the importance of Leghorn, commanding, as it does, all the trade of central Italy, must be apparent to the department. The affair of the Trent, threatening a war with England, and the vandalism of the Nashville and Sumter along the coast of Europe and in the waters of the Mediterranean, have induced shippers both in New York and at this port to seek neutral flags. Several English vessels have improved the opportunity to secure favorable charters for the transportation of goods that would, but for the above causes, have reached their destination in vessels bearing the ensign of the United States. * *

Leghorn, from its central position and railroad connexions with the interior, is the shipping point for a large section of country, and especially of that portion of the kingdom lying north and east of Florence. The entire exports and imports of Florence, and the populous cities surrounding it, pass through this port. Invoices of shipments from this region are all verified here, and all the travel to Florence is via Leghorn; and, besides, Florence is but two hours by

rail from this port, the distance being less than sixty miles. I have briefly referred to this subject in this communication, and shall soon forward a more detailed statement upon the same topic.

I do not refer to the extent of the commerce of this port, the means that should be used to develop American interests in Italy, the different articles of American manufacture that can be profitably exported to this country, nor to the much-needed changes in the practical workings of our consular system, in these papers, as I design to make each of them the subject of a separate communication to the department.

APRIL 2, 1862.

I have the honor to forward herewith to the department a statement of the arrival of vessels of all nationalities at this port during the month of March,

1862.

During the quarter just closed, there entered at this port 1,639 vessels, with a total tonnage of 217,611 tons. Of this number of vessels, 383 were merchant steamships, and 13 were war steamers.

From these totals, it will be easy for the department to determine at any time the importance and relative value of the commerce of Leghorn.

May 1, 1862.

I have the honor of forwarding herewith a statement of the amount of shipping arrived at this port for the month of April, 1862. There are no very material changes to report since my last returns upon this subject.

You will observe that the number of steamers arrived during the month is quite large. A very considerable amount of the trade is done by these steamers. They touch at all the ports lying between Gibraltar and Trebisond, and thus afford shippers advantages for forwarding small packages superior to those afforded by sailing vessels.

MAY 7, 1862.

I have, in communications which I have had the honor of forwarding to the State Department during the brief period which I have had charge of this consulate, suggested several changes in the practical workings of our consular system, in order to render it that effective agent of our government that it is capable of being; and I had designed to have these suggestions placed before Congress at its present session, with the view, should they be deemed practical, of having them receive the proper legislative sanction. * * My suggestion, in brief, is this: To provide for furnishing each of the consular offices with samples of such articles of American manufacture as are, or may become, articles of import by the country in which such consular office is situated.

You thus, on a small scale, make each consular office of the United States a "World's Fair," in which the productions of American skill and manufacture are placed on exhibition for the inspection of the commercial public.

There is no estimating the advantages to our commerce that such a system as I propose would produce. It would add millions to our export trade; it would give us that commercial supremacy that is within our reach if we but take proper steps to secure it.

JUNE 2, 1862.

I have the honor of forwarding herewith to the department a statement of the number, nationality, and tonnage of vessels which have entered this port during the month of May. The business of this port during the past month, as you will observe, has been quite active; the coastwise trade has considerably increased, showing a steadily advancing activity to all kinds of business in the

interior of the country, and creating a demand for large importations, which have, as usual, been supplied by England and France.

A port which exports more than all the balance of Italy ought to have a larger trade with the United States. I trust that our merchants may be induced to venture more in Italian trade than has heretofore been the custom.

JUNE 26, 1862.

I have the honor to forward herewith to the department a map of the kingdom of Italy, upon which I have traced the several railroad lines which connect the port of Leghorn (Livorno) with the different ports of the kingdom. I have also indicated upon this chart the locations of the several United States consulates in Italy. I have traced upon this map only such lines of railroad connecting with Leghorn as are already constructed, or are in process of speedy completion.

For a full and complete history of the railroad system of Italy, I refer the department to the work upon that subject mentioned in my despatch No. 22. You will observe that the railroad connexions with Leghorn are very complete, opening up a large portion of the kingdom to easy communication with it, which will materially advance its commercial importance.

A large portion of the trade of the Upper Adriatic, at the cities of Ancona, Rimini, Ravenna, Ferrara, and also of the large and flourishing cities of Bologna and Modena, and the populous districts surrounding them, has heretofore passed through the port of Genoa, in consequence of the railroad connecting that port with the Adriatic; the completion of the line of railway from Pistoga to Bologna will transfer all this valuable trade to Leghorn. The work upon the railroads extending southward to Rome, one along the coast and the other through the interior, is being pushed forward with an energy and rapidity that give promise of an early completion of these two great outlets to the commerce of this city. The coast line north is now completed nearly to the Gulf of Spezia, and will be opened to Genoa in the course of two years. That part of this line which is finished is very important to Leghorn, as it passes through the world-renowned marble district of Carrara, and thus enables the dealers in marble (which, as you are aware, is one of the staple commodities of Italy) to transfer the products of their quarries to Leghorn for shipment more expeditiously and cheaply than by small vessels, as has heretofore been their practice. With these two coast lines of railway, one north and the other south, in connexion with the several lines extending into the interior, connecting Leghorn not only with all the large and populous cities and manufacturing towns in central Italy, but also with the whole coast of the Adriatic as far south as Termoli, it is easy for an American to perceive at a glance the future growth and commercial importance of this port. Other lines of railway than those which I have mentioned have been recently projected, rendering still more complete the facilities of this city for extending its commercial operations into the interior; and when it is understood that the Rothschilds are the capitalists, who not only furnish the funds for constructing these railroads, but that they are large holders of Italian government bonds, it will be observed that these are excellent reasons for the rapidity with which these great works of internal improvement are pushed forward.

The government of Italy, also, has great interest in the early completion of these public works. An united Italy-the fond anticipation and hope of the Italians can only be secured and preserved beyond a doubt by a combined unity of interests which shall reach and equally benefit all the different sta es and localities of the kingdom. One of the most effectual means of securing this extremely necessary unity of interests is to push forward, with all possible despatch, the system of railroad improvements which the present government

of Italy has so wisely inaugurated. I have thus shown the department the facilities of Leghorn for easy and speedy communication with the interior of Italy, and that from its central position, aside from its railroad connexion, it must very soon become the principal port of the kingdom.

In this connexion, it is but justice to the Italians, for the spirit and energy with which they are pushing forward their railroad improvements, that I should mention that, as soon as the line of railway extending southward down the west shore of the Adriatic sea is completed to Termoli, and the gap across the Alps from France to Italy is finished, the great India and China mails will pass over this route, at a saving of two days' time, in going to and from London and the East. This is an interesting fact that I am happy to make known, showing the importance to the public of this line of Italian railway.

JUNE 30, 1862.

I have the honor herewith to enclose quarterly returns of the arrival and departure of American vessels at this consulate for the quarter ended this day. Six American vessels have arrived at this port since my last quarterly report: one from New York, with cargo of logwood, valued at $1,700; three from England, with coal and railroad iron, valued at $81,040; and two from Genoa in ballast. During the same time three vessels have sailed for the United States with cargoes, consisting of marble, rags, straw goods, &c., valued at $109,000; two have cleared with partial cargoes for other ports of the Mediterranean; three have sailed in ballast, and one remains in port.

Besides the above shipments by American vessels to the United States, two English ships have left this port during the past quarter for New York with full freights, and large shipments have been made via Liverpool and other ports for the same destination. As but few of these shippers procure the required certificates to their respective invoices, I am unable to give any but an approximate value of the shipments made to the United States during the present quarter; but I think I may safely estimate them at $400,000. You will observe that the balance of trade at this port for the past quarter is largely against us, but from the lively interest which several of the principal merchants of New York seem to take in the commercial affairs of Italy since receiving my replies to their inquiries respecting the commerce of this port, I am satisfied that during the coming year there will be an increase in the shipments from the United States. to Italy, and perhaps the balance, in the "footing up," will be in our favor. That it will be so when our trade with Italy is fully developed, and all disturbing causes are removed, I am fully confident.

*

There has recently been organized here what is termed an "English-Italian Cotton-growing Company," for the purpose of trying the experiment of growing cotton in southern Italy. I presume that it is a branch of the Manchester Cotton Supply Association, of which we have heard so much during the past twenty years, and that this experiment will end, as many other similar experiments of that association have done, in a magnificent failure. Nevertheless, the attempt to grow cotton in Italy will be watched with considerable interest, and I shall report the progress of the experiment, if any is made, to the depart

ment.

*

JULY 1, 1862.

I have the honor to hand you herewith a statement of the amount of shipping which has entered the port of Leghorn during the month of June.

You will observe that, among the "war ships," the United States count onethe "Constellation." The number of vessels visiting this port in June is about the same as the month previous, showing the steadiness of the commerce of this port.

*

AUGUST 1, 1862.

Enclosed please find statement of the amount of shipping which has arrived at this port during the month of July.

You will observe that the number of arrivals is greater than that of any other month of the year, showing a continued increase of the commerce of Leghorn. But one American vessel has arrived here during the past month. While vessels of other nations are frequent visitors at this port, those bearing the glorious flag of our country are but seldom seen.

*

*

September 30, 1862.

In accordance with the regulations of the department requiring consuls to report, at the close of each year ending September 30, such facts as they may be able to obtain respecting the trade of their respective consular districts, I have the honor to lay before the department the following history of the commercial operations of the port of Leghorn. In making up this report I find myself laboring under many embarrassments. I entered upon the discharge of the duties of consul at Leghorn on the first day of January, 1862, and consequently the consulate has been less than a year under my control; and as no report of the commerce of this consulate has ever been made, so far as I am able to discover from the records of the office or the published reports of the department to which I might refer, and by which I could compare the commerce of the past year, I am obliged either to confine myself in this report to the commercial operations which have transpired at this port since the commencement of the pesent year, which would be but a summary of the despatches which I have already forwarded to the department, or I must go back to the time when this consulate office was first established, and have the history of the consulate from that early date down to the present year, so far as the very imperfect and disconnected records of the office will allow, and thus make this report supply the place of the reports which my worthy predecessors have failed to furnish. I have chosen the latter course as being the one by which I can render the most service to the department and the country, and hence my report will assume more of the character of the history of this consulate from the date of its establishment, at the close of the last century, down to the present time, than of a statement of the commercial operations for the past year.

As an appropriate introduction to this proposed historical resumé, I have included in this paper the following brief statement of incidents connected with the early settlement, growth, and present condition of the city of Leghorn:

Like most of the flourishing commercial cities of the Mediterranean, Leghorn dates its origin from the erection of a castle. Whoever has made the "cruise of the Mediterranean" from the renowned waters of Trafalgar to the Sicilies has not failed to observe upon each high point and promontory upon the northern shore of this beautiful inland sea one of those ancient castles or towers erected as a means of defence against the barbarous, warlike, and constantly encroaching Moors. These towers were erected at such short intervals that from the "look-out" at the top the whole coast could be surveyed, thus preventing surprises being made by the cautious and wary freebooters who then infested the waters of the Mediterranean, and levied unrestricted contributions upon cach ship, city, village, and hamlet that chanced to fall into their power. Whenever the enemy was seen approaching the coast in numbers the alarm was immediately given by the sentinels in the towers, and the women and children in the surrounding villages would flee to the mountains, taking with them such of their property as was movable, while those who were capable of bearing arms remained to dispute the landing of the invaders, or to follow their companions to the easily defended mountain passes, as the fortunes of the combat might determine. The extensive and fertile valley of the Arno presented a tempting field for pillaging,