and the growing wealth of the country, far from being oppressed with burdensome imposts, has been comparatively relieved from them.

Our government has especially in view the improvement of communications with the interior of the island, and to this end has dedicated a portion of the public revenue, appropriations have also been made for increasing the number of bridges, light-houses, &c. It is still, however, true, that our public roads are not yet as good as they might be wished; but it is not less true that perfection therein has only been reached, even in old settled countries, after long and continued study and practice. Our administration has done much in stimulating the spirit of association for the purpose of building railroads, and was the first to construct at its own expense the road to Guines, thus proving the possibility and utility of introducing among us this means of conveyance. That the example was not lost, let the following list of the present railroads of Cuba testify:

St. Jago de Cuba to the copper mines
Remedios to Caibarienę..

9

620,000

In progress of

20,000

1848.

Cienfuegos to Villa Clara... construction.

While on this subject, we would remark that the greater part of these roads pass through those districts most cultivated with the sugar cane, the most important branch of the agricultural wealth of Cuba; that the rates of freight are moderate, and yet sufficient to yield good dividends to the stockholders; that the cost of transportation of our products has been reduced; that these roads, joined with the steamboats which connect our sea-ports with each other, enable planters who live in our cities to make more frequent visits to their estates, and thus take immediate advantage of the state of the markets for their crops; and, finally, that the prosperous result of these enterprises have produced others of a similar nature, to which our administration has cordially lent its approbation and the aid of the public funds. Let us review the progress of our roads during this year, and, as the most important, we advert to the union of the Havana with the Matanzas road (la Sabanilla) at "Tienda de Reyes;" this will soon be followed by a junction with the Cardenas road, and when this result is obtained, the three principal cities on the north side of the western department, namely, Havana, Matanzas, and Cardenas, will be united together by a quick mode of communication.

The Havana road was bought from the government by a company (as before stated) under the obligation to finish it at a certain time. This year it

* This road was finished as far as Guines, 51 miles, by the Royal Junta de Fomento, and sold by them in 1842 to a company for $3,500,000.

+ There is also a branch of this road to Guanajay, 14 miles in length, which will be completed in

1849.

The "Junta de Fomento" has loaned to this road during the present year $146,500, at 5, 6, 7, and 8 per cent interest per annum, at a long credit.

This company has been formed with a capital of $62,000.

This last road is already partly laid out, and a great part of the stock already taken.

was completed as far as contracted for, and within three years of the time stipulated. During this period, twenty-three miles were laid of the thirtyseven which comprised the prolongation of the road to where it meets the Sabanilla or Matanzas line, in the same year the Bermeja station was opened, and lastly the Union station was reached on the 24th of November, when we date the connection of Havana with Matanzas by railroad. During the last twelve months eight miles of the branch to Guanajay were graded, which reached Cuba del Agua, and it is probable that by the end of next April the road will be opened to this village, and finished to Guanajay about the end of June next. The company's material for transportation consists of thirteen locomotives, nine first class cars, six of the second class, twelve of third class, and 410 freight wagons. From the 1st October, 1847, to the end of September, 1848, 133,886 passengers were conveyed over this road and its branches, 175,678 boxes sugar, 371 hhds. sugar, 2,260 casks molasses, 4,312 pipes of rum, 5,018 bags coffee, 45,414 bales of tobacco, 1,588 wagon loads of corn, 2,770 wagon loads of plantains, 1,282 wagon loads of malojas, 3,470 hogs, besides various merchandise. There are 108 miles in operation, and by the middle of next year (1849) there will be 1222, including the Guanajay branch. This line and its branches traverse a rich country, consequently it must be very profitable; but what in our opinion will most benefit it is its union with the Matanzas road, and the junction of this latter with the Cardenas and Jucaro, in accomplishing which the directors have shown much intelligence and activity.

THE SABANILLA ROAD. This enterprise has made some progress this year, both in effecting its juncture with the Havana line, and advancing to meet the Cardenas road. That part comprised between the village of Sabanilla and Tienda de Reyes has been put in operation; at this latter place is a station called "La Union," as it here unites with the Havana road. The work here presented many difficulties on account of the heavy grading to be done after leaving the village of Sabanilla; ravines had to be filled up in many places with masonry, and hills to be leveled or cut through. Bolondron is the next station beyond Reyes, and this also was reached during the year, as the formation of the land offered less impediments to the work, thus making eleven miles of the road completed this year. In March next (1849) it will be finished to the station of Guira, and it is thought that in May it will be in operation to Navajas, where it joins the Cardenas line.

The gross earnings of the road for the year ending 31st October last were $151,780 Running expenses for the same time.....

Net earnings.....

65,295

$86,485

The freight transported amounted to 116,930 boxes sugar, 24,923 hhds. molasses, and 1,475 hhds. Muscovado sugar. 48,014 passengers passed over the road, and such has been the increase since its connection with Havana, that the number of passengers for the next year are estimated at 80,000.

COLISEO RAILROAD. This road was completed this year as far as contemplated when first projected; a portion of it was opened on the 3d February, but the whole was not in operation until the month of June; consequently the company was not able this year to carry one-half the freight that will in future be conveyed over this road, which will be one of the most productive on the island, notwithstanding its heavy cost, owing to the unfavorable topography of the country. From February to November, the business of the road was as follows:-39,679 boxes sugar, 1,520 hhds. Muscovado sugar,

5,131 hhds. molasses, 2,198 bags coffee, 222 bags corn, 477 pipes rum, and 15,354 passengers, which yielded an income of $55,409. The capital invested for cost of the road, locomotives, cars, depots, &c., amounts to $1,000,000.

JUCARO RAILROAD. The branch to Banaguises has been finished this year, a distance of nine miles, over which has been freighted a large quantity of the sugar produced on the colossal estates which line this road, to hold which a large depot, built of stone, has been constructed. The number of freight wagons on the whole road has been increased to 150, and the passenger cars in proportion. There was carried over the road this year 149,681 boxes sugar, 19,746 hhds. molasses, 13,921 passengers, which, with sundry merchandise besides, have yielded $242,699, and enabled the company to make a divided of ten per cent.

NUEVITAS AND PUERTO PRINCIPE RAILROAD. According to the latest advices we have received of this important road, it was finished to within six leagues of the latter city, and a portion already is in operation. We look forward to its completion in a short time.

STEAMERS. On the north side of the island four excellent steamers maintain an almost daily communication between Havana, Matanzas, Cardenas, and El Jucaro, and once a week one of them extends its trip to Sierra Morena and Sagua la Grande, while another visits Cabanas and Bahia Honda. On the south side two boats leave, periodically, Batabano for St. Jago de Cuba, touching at the intermediate ports, and another steamboat leaves for the Vuelta de Abajo, to the westward of Batabano. In regard to foreign countries, we have also periodical communications with Europe, New York, Charleston, New Orleans, the Antilles, Vera Cruz, La Guaira, Chagres, and with the Pacific via the latter port.

AGRICULTURE. The production of our agriculture is yearly increasing. This is indisputably proved by the statistics of exports, though one of the branches which formerly constituted a good portion of our agricultural wealth has fallen into decay, and becoming daily more abandoned, especially in the western department. But this creates no surprise to us, for it was foreseen and announced years ago. Meanwhile the capital and labor formerly bestowed on this article (coffee) have been transferred to the sugar cane and tobacco, thus explaining, partly, the increased production of the latter staples, which will constantly increase as the formation of new plantations for them are constantly multiplying. It is thus we account for the great crop of 1847, of 1,274,811 boxes sugar, 9,309,506 pounds of tobacco, 244,812,000 segars. The uncertainty of our crops is sometimes considerable, as, for instance, the sugar crops of 1844 and '45. But that was owing to the great hurricane and drought, the effects of which were felt even in the following year. This, also, was the case with the tobacco crop of last year, as was apparent in the decreased exports of that staple during the present year. But these are accidental circumstances, which do not disprove what we have above advanced, and we invite, therefore, the reader's attention to the following table :

EXPORTS.

And, as regards the present year, we refer to the following table, compris

ing the total exports from the island for eleven months, ending with November last :

STATEMENT OF THE EXPORTS OF THE CHIEF PRODUCTS OF THE ISLAND FROM ALL PORTS OF ENTRY, TAKEN FROM THE MONTHLY RETURNS OF THE RESPECTIVE DEPARTMENTS.

Tobacco.

Molasses. Rum. Leaf, unmanuf. Cigars. Copper ore. Thous. Quis. 100 lbs. 136,980

.....

Pipes.

Lbs.

25,886

10,479 1,141,721

61,793

....

Total..... 1,210,917 708,491 205,559 11,909 4,647,737 146,239 571,826 NAVIGATION. Our foreign commerce has naturally suffered from the political convulsions of Europe, which, by checking the usual demand, have produced low prices during the last year. The following is a table of the arrival and departure of vessels from Cuba from January 1st to November 30,

1848:

LIST OF VESSELS ENTERED AND CLEARED FROM ALL PORTS OF THE ISLAND, FROM JANUARY 1ST TO NOVEMBER 30, 1848.

This statement, compared with the last year, shows an apparent falling off, although it does not include the month of December. In 1847, the arrivals at our ports amounted to 3,740, and there sailed thence 3,346; whereas, during the eleven months of 1848, the arrivals were only 2,751, and the departures 2,726, as by the table. But let it not be thought that this decreased number of vessels shows a diminution of our commerce; were it so, how could we explain the fact that our exports were so large in 1848, in fact, little short of the previous year; for although there was a falling off in coffee,

rum, and molasses, there was an increase in the exports of sugar of 60,000 boxes, and that too without including December. We account for this apparent anomaly by assuming that the difference of tonnage is less than the dif erence in the number of vessels; and although we have no documents at hand to prove it, we are confident this decrease in number has been thus compensated by the larger size and increased tonnage of the vessels which have done our carrying trade for the year 1848.

Art. IV. MERCANTILE BIOGRAPHY.

THE LATE JONATHAN GOODHUE.

FEW men have been taken from the ranks of life and usefulness, in this community, whose removal has occasioned so deep a sensation as was elicited by the death of the late Mr. Goodhue. It was not that he had sought for popularity, or had aimed at a commanding influence. A constitutional delicacy of feeling had rather led him to shun notoriety, and to shrink instinctively from places which could give him prominence. The strong sensation, then, which was manifested at his death, was but the spontaneous expression of the esteem and affection of the community in which, for so many years, he had lived and acted. In a widely extended intercourse, running through a long and active life, he had left the impress of his character on the minds and hearts of thousands who had known him and who had loved him. He had appeared among them not only as an upright man and an honorable merchant, but as a fellow-being entering warmly into their feelings and anxious for their wellfare. This ready flowing spirit of sympathy and kindness was strongly developed in Mr. Goodhue's character, and was the more impressive from his frank and lively manner, and the strong language with which he gave utterance to his feelings. No one could converse with him without perceiving it. It was spontaneous, and needed only the presence of a proper object to show itself distinctly and fully. There was, indeed, a transparency of character in Mr. Goodhue throughout, which left no doubt with any who conversed with him as to his principles and feelings.

The public demonstrations of sorrow on the occasion of his death were in keeping with the feeling which pervaded the community. On the morning in which his death was announced, the colors of the shipping in the harbor were displayed at half mast. At a special meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and merchants of New York, convened on the occasion, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted :

"Resolved, That the Chamber of Commerce, and other merchants of New York, representing the unanimous sense of this body, record the death of Jonathan Goodhue, now no more of earth, with the sincerest grief, and with the highest respect for his virtues.

"Resolved, That as a merchant, his enterprise, his systematic attention to business, his unvarying good faith and fidelity, his unspotted honor and unstained integrity, entitle him to a lasting good name in the commercial annals of our country.

"Resolved, That we equally declare our high esteem for his virtues as a man, for his kindness of heart, his liberality in useful public enterprises, and his activity in works of charity; for his modesty, and also for his elevated Christian spirit, and for the unostentatious simplicity and blameless purity of his private life.