No. 5. 



A Table of Imports, fyc. 



143 



A Table of Imports, &c, &c. 



The annexed table, showing the value of imports and exports annually, from 1821 to 1841, inclusive — the re- 

 ceipts into the treasury annually, from customs, during the same period, and the value of bullion and specis 

 imported and exported, was recently communicated to Congress, having been prepared by the Register of the 

 Treasury, in compliance with a resolution of the House. 



ESTIMATE. 



It has been estimated by some that there was of specie and bullion in the country on the 30th of 



September, 1820, $18,000,000 ; but say $20,000,000 



Imported from 1821 to 1841, in 20 years 181,589,841 



201,589,841 

 138,085,922 



Deduct exported from 1821 to 1841 



Balance $63,503,919 



Philadelphia Ledger. 



Promptness. — Promptness in mechanics is 

 of the highest importance. The farmer who 

 sows or reaps out of season, will not lose 

 more by doing things out of the proper time, 

 than will the mechanic in a long run, by ne- 

 glecting to perform work and fulfil orders as 

 promised. 



The farmer sees plainly by the operations 

 of nature around him, the importance of 

 promptness and despatch. If he is late in 

 sowing, he finds that the season of genial 

 rains and sunshine is passing away without 

 preparation on his part to profit by them, and 

 the green fields of his neighbour are an evi- 

 dence of his loss, and spurs him on to action. 



But the mechanic has less evidence of his 

 loss by neglect. The customer that is often 

 disappointed, may bear the evil silently, but 

 resolve to learn by experience and look for 

 one more prompt for the future. 



Disappointments in mechanical work are 

 serious evils; and a great many excellent 

 workmen, who have but little to do, are 

 among the first in their profession in skill, 

 and could do a large business, were they as 

 much noted for their promptness as for their 

 skill and ingenuity. — Farmers' Journal. 



Straw Manufacture. — The whole value 

 of the straw manufacture in the state of Mas- 

 sachusetts, is ascertained to exceed two mil- 

 lions of dollars a year, and it gives par- 

 tial employment to more than one hundred 

 thousand persons. Few people are aware 

 of the importance of this apparently insig- 

 nificant branch of industry. It has grown 

 up under the protective system, from small 

 beginnings, and has prevented the necessity 

 of exporting from this country to France 

 and Italy, sixteen hundred thousand dollars 

 per annum, in specie, to purchase straws, 

 twenty per cent, less than we now have 

 them. The county of Norfolk, Mass., ex- 

 ports straw manufactures to the annual value 

 of six hundred thousand dollars; and the 

 town of Franklin, with a population of about 

 fourteen hundred, has produced one hundred 

 and twenty thousand dollars a year. The 

 labour is performed mostly by females and 

 children, labour which would be wholly 

 useless and unproductive. How important 

 that this productive branch of industry 

 should be preserved, and not struck out of 

 existence to subserve the object of idle poli- 

 ticians. — Maine Cultivator. 



