results have been eminently successful. One institution only, before alluded to, which failed to effect the object for which it was established, long since ceased to exist, and another has taken its place. Of the "general conduct and condition" of these institutions, (the Commissioners say.) we are able to state that they are in a safe "condition" for depositors, and, in their "general conduct," they are, in the main, accomplishing the benevolent purposes for which they were created. The range of selection for investments, within the limits of the statutes, is wide, and hence they differ in character according to the preferences of various boards of investment. In Great Britain, the deposits of savings banks are invested in government securities-the policy being to establish confidence in their safety, and, at the same time, to create an attachment in depositors, to the maintenance of the laws and institutions of the country. The wealthier classes there, as here, take a deep interest in them, because, in a wonderful degree, they diminish the evils of pauperism, and relieve the opulent classes from heavy pecuniary burdens. The philanthropist regards them with favor because they tend to promote frugality and providence in the habits of the people, to improve their morals, to cherish a sense of personal independence, and to diffuse numerous blessings through the community. A savings bank may be regarded as among the best institutions of modern times, and one which reflects honor upon the age. In Massachusetts, savings banks were made subjects of general statute regulation, by the act of April 2, 1834. By the seventh section of that act, modes were prescribed for the investment of deposits. These were incoporated into the seventyeighth section of the thirty sixth chapter of the Revised Statutes, which is as follows: "All such sums may be invested in the stock of any bank, incorporated under the authority of this Commonwealth, or of the United States, or may be loaned on interest to any such bank, or may be loaned on bond or notes, with collateral security of the stock of any of the said banks, at not more than 90 per cent of its par value; or they may be invested in the public funds of this Commonwealth, or of the United States, or loaned on a pledge of any of the said funds; or invested in loans to any county, or town, in this State, or in mortgages of real estate; provided, that the whole amount of stock, held by the institution at any one time, in any one bank, both by way of investment and as security for loans, shall not exceed one-half of the capital stock of such bank, and that not more than three quarters of the whole sum, deposited in the institution, shall be at any one time invested in mortgages of real estate.' By the seventy-ninth section of the same chapter of the Revised Statutes, it is provided that "if the moneys, held by any such corporation, cannot be conveniently invested in any or all of the modes herein before prescribed, then it shall be lawful to loan not exceeding one-half part of the amount thereof, on bonds or other personal securities, with at least two sureties; provided, that the principal and sureties shall all be citizens of this Commonwealth, and resident therein." By the act of March 5, 1841, "all savings banks and institutions for savings may make loans upon bonds or notes, with the pledge of the stock of any railroad company incorporated under the authority of this Commonwealth, the whole amount of whose capital is actually paid, such loan not to exceed 85 per centum of the par value of such stock; provided, that no such loan shall be made upon the stock of any company whose road or franchise is subject to any mortgage or pledge; and provided, further, that no loan shall be made on any railroad stocks, which stocks shall not, at the time sail loan is made, command at least their par value in the market, and no such bank or institution shall so loan more than 50 per cent of the amount of their deposits." VALUE OF GOLD IN LONDON. The following are the rates of gold coin and bullion in London: BANKS AND SAVINGS BANKS OF RHODE ISLAND. We are indebted to the Hon. WILLIAM BEACH LAWRENCE, late Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, for a copy of the " Abstract exhibiting the condition of the banks of Rhode Island on the 8th day of September, 1851, from the returns made to the General Assembly at its annual October Session." From the abstracts, prepared by Hon. Mr. POTTER, Secretary of State, we learn that the banking capital of the State, actually paid in on the 8th of September, 1851, amounted to $12,906,160; of which the twenty-six banks in Providence had a capital of $9,518,810; and the forty-three banks out of Providence of $3,487,350. We give below the aggregate resources and liabilities of all the banks in Rhode Island, distinguishing the Banks in Providence and the banks out of Providence, as follows: AGGREGATE CONDITION OF THE 26 BANKS IN, AND THE 43 BANKS OUT OF PROVIDENCE, Total amount of liabilities....... $14,000,193 99 $5,621,113 69 $19,621,307 68 According to the report referred to above, there are eight Savings Banks in Rhode Island; one at Providence, one at Newport, one at Bristol, one at Pawtucket, one at ⚫ $10,748 52 deficiency in Granite Bank, to balance. b Considered bad or doubtful. d On pledges of stock in the bank, e In circulation a In other banks, and of other stock, owned by the bank. e At the time of the last dividend. under five dollars. Warwick, one at East Greenwich, one at Woonsocket, and one at Wakefield. The whole number of depositors in these banks, on the first Monday in October, 1851, was 11,161 -of which there were of sums under $100, 5,356; of $100 and under $200, 2,332, of $200 and under $500, 2,736; of $500 and under $1,000, 646; of $1,000 and up wards, 89. We give below the aggregate condition of all the Savings Banks in Rhode Island, as follows: VIRGINIA STATE DEBT, MARCH 20, 1852. January 1, 1852, Bonds registered in office of 1st Auditor.... 2d March 20, 1852, Bonds registered since January 1, in office of 2d Auditor Total funded debt, March 20, 1852. Valid subscriptions to companies organized since 30th September, '51. Subscriptions authorized to companies not yet organized. 66 $793,146 12,689.412 879,517 $14,312,175 3,337,928 264,720 $17,914,823 732,560 Bonds guarantied by the State as surety for corporations and jointstock companies...... 5,901,374 Total debt and liabilities...... $22,548,757 Of the above, there is held by the Literary Fund in State stocks RECEIPTS OF THE FUND FOR INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. Dividends derived in 1851, (year ending September 30): The constitutional requirement for interest and sinking fund on State debt is 7 per cent per annum. The above does not include the expenses of the government of the State, nor the revenue derived from taxes to pay the ordinary expenses of the government. • Amount of dividend not stated in the return for East Greenwich Institution. CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF NEW ORLEANS, MARCH, 1852. We give below a statement of the condition of the banks in New Orleans on the 27th of March, 1852, from the official statement of Charles Gayarre, Secretary of State, and George McWhorter, State Treasurer. For a similar statement of the condition of the s me banks on the 28th of February, 1852, see Merchants' Magazine for April, 1852, (vol. xxvi., page 474 :-) VALUE OF PROPERTY IN NEW ORLEANS IN 1851. Mr. FRANCIS TURNER, one of the Assessors at New Orleans, furnishes the following statement of the assessed value of property in that city: AN ABSTRACT OF THE ASSESSMENT OF NINE DISTRICTS, PARISH OF ORLEANS, FOR 1851. CONDITION OF BANKS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. IN ABSTRACT OF THE QUARTERLY REPORTS ON FILE IN THE BANK DEPARTMENT, SHOWING PROPERTY AND TAXES OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. In the Merchants' Magazine for April, 1852, (vol. xxvi., pages 424-443,) we published an elaborate article under our series of papers on "THE COMMERCIAL CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE UNITED STATES" touching the trade and growth of Chicago in 1851. We are now enabled through the politeness of MR. H. G. LOOMIS, one of our subscribers in Chicago, to compile from the “Annual Financial Statement of the City of Chicago for the Municipal Year 1851" two tables, embracing a statement of the taxes of Chicago for 1851-52, and also a statement of the valuation of property, real and personal, taxes, &c., from the incorporation of Chicago, in 1837, to 10th of February, 1852: STATEMENT OF POPULATION, VALUATION OF PROPERTY, TAXES, ETC., OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, FROM ITS INCORPORATION IN 1837, TO THE 10TH OF FEBRUARY, 1852. |