The population of England, proper, excluding Wales, Scotland, &c.,
may be reckoned at something near,

Of Wales, Scotland, and other dependencies at home,
That of the United States at

16,495,058 10,336.047

21,250,000

Wales, Scotland, &c.,

938,000,000 or 1,450,000

new territories, including Texas, 1,192,971,510 or 1,861,110

In the former there is not much room for great progress in these particulars, while in the latter there are boundless resources. The increase of inhabitants in the first is about 1 4-10 per cent, per annum, and in the last, that is the United States, 3 3-10 per cent.

The valuation of property, real and personal, in Great Britain, is very great, and here the comparison is against us, but then she has incurred an immense debt amounting to 3,800 millions of dollars, which is a very great drawback upon her prosperity.

The valuation of property in the United States exceeds 8,298,000,000 dollars. The public debt of the general government and the several states, 285,911,554 dollars.

A country, like individuals, should be estimated in its property to be worth just what may remain after discharging all its liabilities. A large portion of the property of England is personal, and consists of the government scrip, in the form of consols, annuities, and bills of exchequer. Heavy burdens are therefore imposed upon the property and people, to enable government to provide for its interest, sinecures, and unavoidable expenses for the support of its administration. "Her revenues for these objects amount to 270 000,000 of dollars, exclusive of poor rates, the church, local taxation, India," &c., annually.

In order, however, to form an estimate, so far as the cases can be made analogous, we will take the old thirteen states and Vermont, where rail roads have become more extended than in the new states. Here are, in area of land, 251,255,360 acres, or 403,124 square miles.

In England and dependencies, as before stated, 74,668,200 acres, or 116,700 square miles.

The population in these fourteen states, by estimation, is

(( in England, &c.,

12,028,633 26,381,105

Thus is shown great disparity in capability of improvement, both in extent of territory and accumulation of population, for it must be remembered the increase here is more than twice as much as it is there.

The amount of railways in Great Britain, so far as we have authentic information, is about 4,400 miles in use to January, 1849.

3,000 miles in progress of construction.

6,200 miles chartered, but will not be built at present.

Total, 13,600 miles, with capitals of $1,422,000,000.

The amount already absorbed there exceeds 827,000,000 dollars for these works, and "we find that in twenty-two months (from January 1, 1847, to October 30, 1848.) there has been paid by British shareholders no less than £75,000,000, or $333,300,000 to the railway companies, and nearly the whole of this has been expended." Large, very large sums go for preliminary expenses, excise, and customs for taxes, and yet most of the great roads now amalgamated paid from 6 to 8 per cent. dividends in June, 1848.

The railways in the portion of the United States referred to above, and now in operation, extend to 5831 miles, and there is no prospect of rapid extension at this time. The cost has amounted to $182,843,966, but a little more than half

the sum that has been expended in Great Britain within the last twenty-two months. This statement may not be perfectly accurate, on account of the constant progress in these works, but is derived from reliable sources, and is an approximation to the truth.*

The magnitude and continual accumulation of business in our country to justify these enterprises, can hardly be grasped by the mind at once. As one instance of its importance, we will state that the value of the produce of the Mississippi valley annually set afloat upon its 16,674 miles of navigable waters, is estimated at $262,825,620, and if the returns are only reckoned as of equal value, we have a grand aggregate of 526 millions of dollars, as the worth of the products and merchandise afloat on these inland waters, while our whole imports from and exports to foreign countries, do not exceed 306 millions of dollars." Chains of railroads are built, and in progress of building, to bring much of this produce to the Atlantic ports, thus saving time in transportation, and avoiding many risks. In view of these matters, then, who will say we are going "too fast and too far," and although much money is required, it is not extinguished by these works, but like tools it may be used to accomplish the purpose, and then returned to be used for other departments of business.

INCOME, EXPENDITURE, AND exports of GREAT BRITAIN. LONDON, Nov. 9, 1849. The following comparative statement of the public income of Great Britain, for the three last years, is abridged from an official return:

In the North British Review for August we find the following table:

Railroad traffic in Great Britain.

4,183 455,846

Total receipts from goods and passengers.

£4,535,189

4,053 681,329

As we hear a great deal about the objects on which our immense revenue of nearly sixty millions sterling is expended, it may not be uninteresting to take a bird's-eye view of the subject.

*

Now king of Belgium. He does not receive any thing; the balance of the annuity granted to him is, after paying the annuities, &c., due to the servants of the late Princess Charlotte, paid back to the exchequer. The sum so repaid last year was £36,000.

A more detailed account of the public expenditure, shows that the amount paid to charitable institutions for the last three years was £157,524, £237,646, and £297,189, respectively. Of the latter sum, the establishment for the administration of the poor laws cost

Toulonese and Corsican emigrants,

£202,975

41,387

33,200

2,000

9,308

2,000

Protestant dissenting ministers, and poor French refugee clergy and laity, 6,319

£297,189

The increasing demands of education, science, and art, is leading to a gradual annual increase of the expenditure under this head, which, we trust, few will be found to complain of. The total amount for the last three years was £341,216, £353,307, and £392,696, respectively. The latte amount was appropriated as follows:

A lately published parliamentary document presents the following facts. The total declared value of British and Irish produce and manufactures exported from the United Kingdom to various countries, was, in 1847, £58,842,377, in 1848, £52,849,448.

A return has been published of the exports of British machinery and mill work

VOL. III.-DEC., 1849.

27

for the year ending the 5th of January, 1849. From this it appears that the quantity taken by Russia was more than double that by any other country, the declared value in her instance being £212,712, while Spain, which comes next, figures for £98,142. Italy is the third on the list, being for £83,561; then the Hanseatic towns for £58,128, France £35,197, Brazil £29,201, Holland £27,611, the East Indies £26,997, Turkey £26,124, Mexico £25,807, Java £21,285, and Egypt £20,143. All the other countries show amounts under £20,000. The general total is £817,656.

A similar return with regard to hard wares and cutlery shows the total amount exported to have been £1,860,150, of which the enormous proportion of £777.964 was taken by the United States. Canada and the other North American colonies stand next, but only for £95,966. The general total to our colonies, including Australia for £79,103, is about £368,000. The Hanse Towns figure for £82,030, Brazil £73,473, Russia £61,664, France £51,583, the foreign West Indies £48,590, Holland £40,201, Italy £36,129, Peru £29,056, Chili £27,034, Mexico £23,476, Belgium £22,908, Spain £22,779, and Turkey £20,182.

THE COTTON TRADE OF GREAT BRITAIN.

(Condensed by the Inquirer from tables in the London Times.)

The imports of cotton for several periods within the last forty-four years.