The old Ayuntamiento left San Francisco in debt about $200,000, and contracts to complete to the amount of $250,000, most of which has been paid in scrip. About $80,000 are due in taxes, and a balance of $10,000 on water lots. The licenses amount to about $8,000 per month. The city property is very valuable. The assessors estimated the value of the surveyed lands at $887,000, and in arriving at this sum they followed the same rule as when estimating private property for taxation. The piers belonging to the city, and the unsurveyed lands will altogether amount to nearly half a million.

"With an economical administration," says the Alta Californian, "the whole indebtedness of the city can be wiped off in three years. The increase of taxes alone may be estimated to amount, in that period, to more than our indebtedness.”

CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF BALTIMORE.*

CONDENSED VIEW OF THE BANKS OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE, ON THE 6TH OF JANUARY, 1851.

Peter Thelluson was a London banker, whose ruling passion was an inordinate love of money. He died July, 1787, worth upwards of £700,000, and by his singular will, after bequeathing to his wife and children about £100,000, directed that the residue of his property should be vested in the purchase of estates, to accumulate until such time as all his children, and the male children of his sons, and grandsons, shall die, and then the lineal male descendants, who must bear the name of Thelluson, shall inherit in three equal lots-the number of his sons-thus creating prospectively three large landed estates. In case of failure of male descendants, the estates to be sold and the proceeds applied towards the paying of the national debt. Many attempts were made to upset this singular and unjust will, but they all failed. It has been calculated that ninety or a hundred years, from the date of the will, must elapse before the lineal male descendants can take possession of the property; and if during that period the sums of money left by the testator could have been invested at five per cent, compound interest, they would amount to more than £70,000,000 sterling. No more wills of this kind can be made, for Act 4, Geo. IV., limits the power of bequest to a life or lives in being, and twenty-one years after the death of the survivor.

INCREASE OF BANKING CAPITAL IN PENNSYLVANIA.

The Harrisburg papers give a list of applications to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for an increase of capital amounting to a total of $4,900,000. This list includes the creation of new banks, and an increase of the capital of several banks now in operation,

In the above table the cents are omitted for the sake of convenience. + Paid in but part.

STATE DEBT OF PENNSYLVANIA.

In the Merchants' Magazine, for March, 1849, (vol. xx., pages 256–269,) we published an elaborate paper of the debt and finances of Pennsylvania, with reference to the gene. ral condition and prosperity of that State, illustrated with numerous tables; and in the number for October, 1850, (vol. xxiii., page 457,) a statement showing the state and amount of the various loans to the State, which then constituted its indebtedness, derived from the report of the Auditor General of Pennsylvania. The report of the Auditor General, made to the Legislature in January, 1851, furnishes the annexed detail of the debt of Pennsylvania, at the present time:

Of this, $200,000 bears interest at the rate of 41, $38,009,817 87, at 5, and $2,387,396 81, at 6 per cent.

UNITED STATES TREASURY NOTES OUTSTANDING JANUARY 1, 1851. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, REGISTER'S OFFICE, Jan. 1, 1851. Amount outstanding, of the several issues, prior to 22d July, 1846, as per records of this office...

$138,761 64

Amount outstanding of the issue of 22d July, 1846, as per records of this office..

25,600 00

Amount outstanding of the issue of 27th January, 1847, as per records of this office...

28,200 00

Total......

Deduct Cancelled Notes in the hands of the accounting officers, of the issues prior to 22d July, 1846.....

$193,561 64

400 00

Balance...

$192,161 64

BULLION AND CIRCULATION OF BANKS IN EUROPE.

The following summary shows the stock of bullion, and the circulation of the principal banks in Western Europe;

"CHARACTER OF AN AMERICAN BANKER."

A. B. JOHNSON, ESQ., THE PRESIDENT OF THE ONTARIO BRANCH BANK. The following sketch of the character of A. B. JOHNSON, the President of the Ontario Branch Bank, although originally published in an American journal, the Utica Teetotaller, first met our eye in the London Bankers' Magazine for December, 1850, in which it appears prefaced with a few remarks under the title above quoted. As the circulation of the Teetotaller is limited to a very praiseworthy class of persons, and as the London Magazine is but little known, and has quite a limited circle of readers in this country, we presume the sketch will be new to many of the readers of the Merchants' Magazine. It is, we believe, regarded by some of the many friends of Mr. Johnson as a rather "hard likeness." The editor of the Teetottaller is evidently a pretty independent sort of a man, and not much given to flattery or complementary notices. whole, we are inclined to believe, that the portrait is faithfully sketched; at all events, Mr. Johnson's character furnishes an example equally worthy of imitation in its financial and in its domestic relations:

On the

"A. B. Johnson, Esq., is pretty well known in Utica, being one of the old inhabitants, and early identified with the fate and progress of the place. But some of our distant readers may not be so familiar with him, and to many of them he is an entire stranger. Mr. Johnson is then by profession a banker, and has been the President of the Ontario Branch Bank of this city from the time that many of our young men were born, and as such the master spirit of his banking house. He must be some sixty years old, and is the father of near a dozen children, several of whom are on the stage of action, occupying respectable posts in society, and others are passing through their juvenility in the prospect of taking part in the eventful affairs of human existence. Mr. Johnson is rich: all agree in this, and all agree that he has as honestly become rich as any banker anywhere. In banking, he is thought to know no man after the flesh.'-He discounts notes not as a matter of frindship, but as a desirable business tranction.' It is reported of him that a neighbor once came to him, and desired him to discount his note, and urged his claim on the ground of long-standing neighborly intimacy; but Mr. J. replied, that he had never done such a thing in his life! Some may think this rather cruel; but then it is a question whether such a trait of character in a banker is not more praiseworthy than that inclination to favoritism which has involved and used up many banking institutions. An independent banker, open and in the field for fair business transactions, is, however, a better man to the community than one who, from inclination or the force of circumstances, confines his favors to a narrow circle of friendships, and restricts his discounts to partisans and favorites, For then a working man or mechainc, the farmer or the tradesman, stands an equal chance with a member of the upper-tendom, provided he presents good paper.

Mr. Johnson is a model of industry and steady habits. Every day finds him at his post, and in performance of his bank duties. Indeed this is the ground of his great success in accumulating this world's 'lucre,' and the means by which he has acquired a vast amount of knowledge of the workings of money matters. Strict integrity is universally accorded to the President of Old Ontario Branch; but still some will have it that he is not as benevolent as he might be, and many persist in the belief that if they had a half a million they would turn it to better uses. However this may be, probably Mr. Johnson will not consent to be relieved of the responsibility; and we who may be desirous of being charitable out of the fruits of his patient accumulation will probably never have the pleasure. Of course what we say on this delicate point is but a rehersal of out-of-door conversation, for the correctness of which we cannot be held responsible. And we have said what we have, not to impart information to our citizens, but to gie our readers abroad some idea of Mr. Johnson's manner of life and domestic habits. course it will be regarded as an oddity for one who has spent almost a life in a bank, and that too with the chief responsibilities of a banking institution resting upon him, to find time or inclination for literary labors. Mr. Johnson is the author of several books, evincing much thought and study, in all of which chaste literature and utility are combined. His stories have the same merit. They have been written for a practical purpose, and not merely for amusement or literaray fame. We have said Mr. Johnson is the father of a large family, thus copying to some extent the old patriarchs, with whom he is said to stand connected 'according to the flesh.' He loves his children as but few

Of

parents do. There is between him and them a sort of fraternity more resembling equality of position than is often seen between parent and child. He governs by reason rather than birchen authority. On this ground has originated his story-writing. When he would correct a fault in a child, or impart wholesome instruction, instead of calling him to him, and specifying the error or mistake to be corrected, he has set down and written him a tale which should serve the double purpose of imparting correction and instruction, and at the same time prove a token of affection and a 'keepsake' to be treasured up. All of the stories which have lately been reprinted in our columns, were written some time ago for this and similar purposes. They are tales in which it is sought to combine amusement and instruction, and for this purpose they are valuable contributions to the literature of the times. If Mr. J. has not seen fit to make love-sick lads and lasses the heroes or heroines of his tales, it is because he has not happened to have a 'case' within the circle over which is extended his parental solicitude, to call for an effort in that line. If any one of his offspring had been seriously afflicted with heart-sickness; if Alexander or William, or Charles had ever experienced a serious derangement of the tender sentiment, we have no doubt but that Mr. Johnson would have penned a story adapted to restore the tone of the affections and save the heart from breaking. We say this by way of apology for Mr. Johnson to that class of readers who admire no story but such as treat of hearts pierced by Cupid, and detail the art of getting married. Mr. Johnson writes because he has something to write about, and is always guided by the law of his life, utility. As papers of this class, we have perused his stories with pleasure and instruction, and regret that his series have come to a close."

THE DIRECTOR OF THE FRENCH MINT ON THE GOLD QUESTION.

At the last sitting of the French Commission on the gold question, the following papers, by M. Dierichx, the Director of the Paris Mint, was communicated by order of the Minister of Finance:

"I had the honor of addressing to the Minister of Finance, on the 4th ult., a note, in I which endeavored to show that the decline in the premium on gold was to be attributed more to the importation of Dutch ten florin gold pieces than to the quantity of gold sent from California. On the 7th ult., the Minister asked me for another note on the measures which he should adopt to protect the country against too considerable importations. The difficulty of solving this question arises from the fact that everything is hypothetical in all the information that can be obtained. Thus, since the decimal system was adopted, there have been coined in France up to the present time—

4,200,000 francs. 1,300,000 francs.

In silver In gold Serious men pretended some years since that we no longer had in France more than from 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 francs, of gold; and an experienced banker estimated the amount at only 80,000,000 francs. These amounts are doubtless below the reality, for it must not be forgotten that there is much of our gold in Italy, and that, if some day reasons of interest should induce the holders of it to get rid of it, we should again see it in circulation. It may, therefore, perhaps be reasonable to estimate the amount of gold, the nominal value of which is guaranteed by the stamp of the State, at from 300,000,000 to 400,000,000 francs. It is only since 1848 that there has been any question of the produce of California. The gold of unknown origin brought to the mint amounted :

In 1849 to

In 1850 to

22,500,000 francs. 22,400,000 francs.

"I know that all this did not come from California, and it would, perhaps, be correct in estimating the amount from that source at two-thirds. According to the quantity which is brought from that country, it is probable that each State will be supplied with gold more directly, and the resource of selling our gold at a premium will be successively lost to us. If the question was only of from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 francs per year, or even double that sum, there would be no reason for thinking much of it, for that quantity would only realize slowly the desire which France manifested some years since to see gold coin in circulation. If it be exact that California in 1850 has produced 250,000,000 francs, we have not received more than about the twelfth part of it. What leads me to think that foreign commerce has no interest in overloading us

with gold is, that for the last eighteen months there have arrived, at different times in France, large sums in five-franc pieces, which had been exported about 1847, at the period when we were in want of corn. At this very time I receive gold from England, but that is in consequence of the abundance of paper on London to which our exportations of wheat gave birth. I therefore, do not, up to this time, see anything to show that we shall soon be inundated with gold, as some people appear to dread. My conclusion is, that there is nothing to be done at present, and that it is necessary to beware of any small or false measures, which might tend to alarm the commercial interest."

THE GOLD OF CALIFORNIA.

A writer in the Cincinnati Chronicle and Allas, alluding to a speculation raised as to the effects likely to be produced by the large increase of gold from California, and being, as he informs us, satisfied that great misapprehension exists as to the probable effects of California gold upon the monetary transactions of the world, offers a few facts and observations in illustration of the position he assumes, viz.., that there is “no danger of gold being materially depreciated as the standard of value, &c." Believing the subject to be one of interest to the readers of the Merchants' Magazine, and that its free and fair discussion will tend to its elucidation, we transfer the remarks of the writer in the Chronicle to our pages:

"Unless the yield from the California mines greatly exceed what appears probable, I feel no hesitation in saying, that there is no danger of gold being materially depreciated as the standard of value, and that the idea of its ceasing at no distant day to be the standard of value, in consequence of its reduction in price, is an extravagant and wild imagination. Upon the most reliable data, Mr. Jacobs, a person supposed to be of high authority in monetary matters, estimated the total coinage of the world in 1830, at £313,000,000, or $1,514,920,000-an amount less by £60,000,000, or $290,400,000 than the supposed coinage of 1808. If we may suppose that the present coinage of the world is only so large as that supposed in 1830, to wit, $1.514,920,000, it will readily be perceived that it will require no inconsiderable increase of the precious metals to tell sensibly upon the existing coinage.

"But it should be borne in mind that the coinage of the world does not by any means embrace the largest proportion of the total amount of the precious metals. It does not embrace, probably, more than one-third. If the coinage of the world be $1,514,920,000, we may estimate the total value of the precious metals at $4,544,760,000. Is it likely that the yield of the Cal.fornia mines will be large enough to tell materially on this large amount of the precious metals, when we consider the continual loss to which they are exposed from abrasion, shipwreck, and other casualties? In connection with this view, it may be as well to mention that a few years ago the Emperor of Russia threw one hundred millions of dollars in gold, the produce of his Ural mines, into the money market, and that neither the currency of the world, nor the price of gold, has yet been sensibly affected by it.

"But the misapprehension on this subject arises chiefly from a failure to consider that the demand for the precious metals increases to a very great extent, with the increase of their supply. It is this principle which has kept up, in a great measure, the price of these metals, notwithstanding their enormous increase, consequent upon the discovery of America. And it is this principle which will prevent the increase consequent on the discovery of the California mines, from materially depreciating gold, even although that increase should be much greater than it is probable that it really will be.

"Mr. Say, in his excellent treatise on Political Economy, estimates that while the increase of the precious metals consequent upon the discovery of America was ten-fold, the reduction of their value was only four-fold. The reason why the reduction of value was not commensurate with the increase of supply was, that there was a cotemporaneous increase of demand-The costly objects that none but princes could before aspire to possess, became attainable by the commercial classes; and the increasing taste for plate and expensive furniture created a great demand for gold and silver to be employed on those objects.' It is true that a number of circumstances conspired with the increased supply of gold and silver to extend the demand for them. The opening of a route to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, the general advance of Europe in