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COMMERCE.
The position of New York in the confederacy of States gives it peculiar facilities for maritime
affairs, and through its various ports a large proportion of the foreign and internal commerce of
the nation is carried on. This commerce extends to every accessible port in the world, and in
amount and yariety excels that of all the other States of the Union. It is regulated by acts of
Congress; and the revenues arising from duties upon articles imported are collected by officers ap¬
pointed by the President and Senate, or subordinate to those thus appointed. These officers are
accountable to the U. S. Treasury Department.
Collection Districts.—The Federal Government has established 11 Collection Districts
within this State for the collection of these revenues. Each of these has one port of entry, in charge
of a collector, and several ports of delivery, at which one or more deputy collectors, inspectors, or
other officers reside.1 The number of officers employed in collecting these revenues in New York
City and its dependencies is nearly 800. Duties on foreign importations form much the largest
item of revenue for the support of the General Government, and those collected at the port of New
York form the largest part of the whole amount. The absolute and relative amounts of moneys
collected from this source in the United States and State of New York have been steadily increasing,
except as influenced by pecuniary embarrassments; and now the former amount to about $60,000,000
annually.2
1 Collection Districts in New Yorlc.
|
District. |
Date of
Establishment. |
Principal
Office. |
Subordinate Offices. |
|
Sag Harbor.........
New York City...
Champlain.........
Oswegatchie.......
Cape Vincent......
Sackets Harbor...
Oswego..............
Genesee.............
Niagara.............
Buffalo Creek......
Dunkirk............ |
July 31, 1789
July 31, 1789
Mar. 2, 1793
Mar. 2, 1811
April 18, 1818
Mar. 3, 1803
Mar. 2, 1799
Mar. 3, 1805
Mar. 2, 1799
Mar. 3, 1805
July 27, 1854 |
Sag Harbor.........
New York.......i..
Plattsburgh.......
Ogdensburgh......
Cape Vincent......
Sackets Harbor..
Oswego..............
Rochester..........
Lewiston............
Buffalo...............
Dunkirk............ |
Greenport.
Albany, Troy, Cold Spring Harbor, Port Jefferson.
Whitehall, Rouses Point, Champlain, Perrysville, Mooers, Centerville,
Chateaugay, Burke, Trout River, Westville, Fort Covington, Hogans-
burgh, Malone.
Hammond, Morristown, Lisbon, Waddington, Louisville, Massena. i
Alexandria Bay, Millens Bay, Clayton, Chaumont, Three Mile Bay, Point
Peninsula.
Dexter, Henderson, Sandy Creek.
Big Sodus, Little Sodus, Texas, Port Ontario.
Carthage Landing, Kelsey Landing, Pultneyville, Charlotte.
Niagara Falls, Niagara Bridge, Youngstown, Wilson, Eighteen Mile Creek,
Oak Orchard.
Black Rock, Black Rock Dam, Tonawanda, Schlosser.
Barcelona, Irving, Cattaraugus Creek, Silver Creek. |
|
Albany was made a port of delivery in N. Y. Dist. July 31,1789.
Cape Vincent was made a port of delivery in Sackets Harbor
Dist. Mar. 2,1811.
Hudson was made a port of delivery in N. Y. Dist. July 31,
1789, aud a district and port of entry Feb. 26,1795. Annexed
to N. Y. Dist. May 7, 1822.
Catskill and Kinderhook were made ports of delivery from
Feb. 26,1795, to May 27, 1796.
New Windsor, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and Esopus were made
ports of delivery July 31, 1789.
Niagara.—Office removed from Ft. Niagara to Lewiston
Mar. 2,1811.
i The following table exhibits the receipts for customs for the
ports of the U. S. and N. Y. for a series of years:—
|
Receipts into United Slates Treasury. |
|
Years. |
Total from all
sources. |
From Customs. |
|
United States. |
New York. |
|
1795 |
$9,419,802.79 |
$5,588,461.26 |
$2,717,361 |
|
1800 |
12.451,184.14 |
9,080,932.73 |
3,611,588 |
|
1805 |
13,689,508.14 |
12,936,487.04 |
6,958,008 |
|
1810 |
12,144,206.53 |
8,583.309.31 |
5,223,696 |
|
1815 |
50,961,237.60 |
7,282,942.22 |
14,646,816 |
|
1820 |
20,881,493.68 |
15.005.612.15 |
5,506,516 |
|
1825 |
26,840,858.02 |
20,098.713.45 |
15,762,142 |
|
1830 |
24,844,116.51 |
21.922.391.39 |
15,031,003 |
|
1835 |
35,430,087.10 |
19,391.310.59 |
14,568,660 |
|
1840 |
25,032,193.59 |
13.499.502.17 |
7,557,441 |
|
1845 |
29,941,853.90 |
27,588.112.70 |
21,318,408 |
|
1850 |
47,649,388.88 |
•39,668.686.42 |
24,487,610 |
|
1855 |
65,351,374.68 |
63,025,794.21 |
|
|
1857 |
68,969,212.57 |
63.875,905.05 |
42,510,753.79 |
|
1858 |
70.273.869.59 |
41,789,620.96 |
|
|
|
The amount of revenue from duties’varies with the amount
of tariff, and the sum thus collected becomes a very uncertain
measure of the amount of commerce. The present tariff was
adopted March 3, 1857, and admits a large class of goods free of
duty. The system of bonding, introduced in 1846, permits goods
to be stored in Government warehouses until re-exported or sold,
before the payment of duties is required. The State Govern¬
ment took early measures for establishing custom houses and
regulating duties upon foreign importations. By an act of Nov.
18,1784, Sag Harbor and New York were made ports of entry
and delivery, and officers were appointed by the Governor and
Council of Appointment at each. The reluctance of New York
to part with these revenues led to much delay in her ratifying
the Constitution of the U, S., by which her revenues were sur¬
rendered to the General Government.
|
Registered and enrolled tonnage of the port of New York and of
the United States at different periods. |
|
P |
Registered
Tonnage. |
Enrolled
Tonnage. |
Total Tonnage. |
|
(H |
United |
New |
United |
New |
United |
New |
|
|
States. |
York. |
States. |
York. |
States. |
York. |
|
1825 |
700,788 |
136,384 |
800 213 |
144.210 |
1,423,112 |
280.594 |
|
1830 |
576,475 |
92,361 |
615,301 |
167,922 |
1,191,776 |
260.283 |
|
1835 |
885,821 |
.162,874 |
939,119 |
196,483 |
1,824,940 |
359,357 |
|
1840 |
899,765 |
184,542 |
1,280,999 |
244,774 |
2,180,764 |
429,316 |
|
1845 |
1.095,172 |
217,089 |
1.321,830 |
288.187 |
2,417,002 |
505,276 |
|
1850 |
1,585,711 |
388,438 |
1,949,743 |
391,380 |
3.535,454 |
779,818 |
|
1855 |
2,535,136 |
737,509 |
2,676,865 |
538,162 |
5,212,001 |
1.275,671 |
|
1858 |
2,577,769 |
841.086 |
3.201,430 |
580.488 |
5,04 9,80811,422,174 |
|
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