The principal articles which, as matters of export, have shown a decided increase, are sugars, molasses, pulu, flour, sweet potatoes, salt, hides, whale oil, and bone; while the articles that show the greatest falling off are coffee and arrowroot. The sugars have increased 403,505 lbs.; molasses, 44,695 galls.; pulu, 1,005 bales; flour, 731 bbls.; sweet potatoes, 646 bbls.; salt increased to 1,125 tons instead of 1,550 bbls.; hides, 3,366; whale oil, 32,627 galls.; whalebone, 17,303 lbs. The coffee has decreased 253,686 lbs., owing entirely to the blight; the arrowroot has decreased 15,305 lbs.

The custom-house receipts for 1857 were $140,777 03, while for 1858 they were $116,138 23, or $24,639 less.

Goods and spirits bonded for 1857 were $178,099 02, while for 1858 they were $253,497 27, or $75,496 25 more.

In 1857 there arrived at Hawaiian ports 83 merchantmen, of 26,817 tons burthen; in 1858 they numbered 115, with a tonnage of 46,075 tons.

The consumption of spirits for 1858 show a decrease of 1,410 gallons, and that of wines, etc., a decrease of 97 gallons.

TRADE OF HOLLAND.

The commerce of Holland for the year 1857 has been given officially as follows:Florins

Imports. 413,682,840

Exports. 343,332,758

Re-exports. 112,022,197

The imports show an increase for the year of 941,637 florins, and the value gone into consumption had increased 6,320,204 florins. The export of Dutch goods had increased 5,502,510 florins, while the transit exports had diminished 418,217 florins. The imports of rice had diminished 12,000,000 florins; sugar, 5,000,000 florins; coffee, 3,500,000 florins. The import of gold and silver was 8,000,000 florins greater, and the export shared a similar increase.

RECEIPTS OF COAL AT BALTIMORE.

RECEIPTS OF COAL AT BALTIMORE FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS, TO 31ST DECEMBER.

LUMBER ON THE ALLEGHANY RIVER.

The Olean Advocate says the amount of lumber annually "run" down the Alleghany River and its tributaries, is estimated at from 150,000.000 to 175,000,000 feet. This amount is to be greatly reduced the coming Spring. We doubt if it will exceed 100,000,000 feet, including the amount now manu factured from the stock logs now on hand.

TRADE OF SWEDEN.

The following report from the London Times of the 6th instant, on the trade of Stockholm in 1856, supplies the following information :—

The crops were generally below an average in 18 counties, and in farms of the northern districts the crops were almost a total failure. Great distress existed among the poorer classes in the north, and they were reduced in many cases to grind the bark of pines and mix it with a small quantity of rye flour, as a substitute for bread. In 1856, 10,616,434 kanna of brandy (a kanna being equal to nearly 34 English quarts) were distilled, value 3,538,811 rix dollars banco, or £294,000. The produce of 18 cotton mills in different parts of Sweden is given for 1855 at 12,401,721 pounds of cotton yarn. Within a few years cotton has in a great measure superseded the use of linen, as being so much cheaper and warmer. Coals are now imported in large quantities from England, but, from the peculiar construction of the stoves used for heating the rooms, it is impossible to use them in private houses. The price of coals is from 18s. to 26s. per ton; the quantity imported in 1855 rose to 860,290 tons (Swedish) from 178,549 tons in 1845. The war with Russia in 1854 and 1855 was very profitable to the Stockholm merchants trading in the Gulf of Bothnia, and, in the hope that the war would continue, they gave very extensive orders for goods for 1856. The result of peace was, that much of the gains of the two previous years was swallowed up in the failure of the speculation for 1856. The whole import and export trade of Sweden twenty years ago was not more than 34,147,000 banco, or £2,845,583; in 1845 it had risen to 45.650,000 banco; and 1855 exceeded 120,000,000 banco (about £10,000,000,) being double what it was in 1852. In 1855 the value of the exports exceeded that of the imports by £611,416. The value of grain exported in 1854 was 8,000,000 banco, or £666,666, while in 1855 it was nearly 18,000,000 banco, or £1,500,000. Tan has largely increased as an item of the exports, while the exportation of pitch, bones, bar-iron, coffee, and steel has fallen off; 4,536,282 pounds of white cotton yarns were imported from Great Britain in 1855, a large increase, owing to the lowering of the duty from 4s. to 3s. per pound. A greater importation of raw sugar has also taken place (from England) since the lowering of duties in 1853. The importation of machinery and coals from England continues to increase. The trade and general prosperty of Sweden have greatly increased during the last four years, partly owing to the advance made in agriculture, and the impulse given to the carrying trade by the beneficial change in the navigation laws.

EXPORTS FROM PORTO RICO.

Advices from this island state that the sugar crop will probably be one-third less than last year. The following statement gives a comparative view of the exports of the island for the last two years :—

Cotton....lbs.
Sugar...
Coffee..

38,862 | Hides......lbs.

1857. 604,666

1858.

405,882

3,729,511

283,656 86,391,546 121,319,374 Molasses..galls. 2,745,675 11,139,691 9,814,225 Tobacco....lbs. 5,028,491 4,908,444

SHIPMENT OF OIL AND BONE FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. Although the catch of the season of 1858 was small per ship, in comparison with those of 1857 and 1856, it will be seen by the following exhibit of total in barrels, that the quantities shipped East in 1858 considerably exceeded those of 1857:

Whale oil,

bbls.

Whalebone, lbs.

63

10,859

46

9,573

71

8,789

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.

MINERAL OIL.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 2, 1859. SIR-I acknowledge the receipt of your report on the appeal of Messrs. A. C. Ferris & Co. from your decision subjecting to duty at the rate of 15 per cent, under the tariff of 1857, an article described as "mineral oil." The importers claim the mineral substance now under consideration to be "asphaltum." and entitled to entry at a duty of four per cent under that designation in schedule H of the tariff of 1857. It is a bituminous substance, and yields on analysis 75 per cent of a clear, thin, and colorless oil, leaving, as a residuum, a hard, resinous, inodorous substance, somewhat resembling asphaltum. It is not embraced in the list of articles entitled to entry free of duty under the Canadian Reciprocity Treaty; and its dutiable character must be determined under the provisions of the tariff act of 1857. Though yielding on chemical analysis a mineral oil adapted to use for illuminating and lubricating purposes, it cannot be assigned to the provision made for "oils, volatile, essential, or expressed, and not otherwise provided for," in schedule C, nor to any other specific provision for oils in the tariff of 1857. It is clear that it cannot be regarded as "asphaltum." That substance, if it enters at all into its composition, is too minute in quantity to give a character to the article. Being bituminous, if in a crude state, it may be treated as liable to duty at the rate of 15 per cent under the classification of "mineral and bituminous substances, in a crude state, not otherwise provided for," in schedule E, or if not in a crude state, as unenumerated and liable to the same rate of duty under the first section of the tariff act of 1857. In either view of the case, the proper rate of duty was levied by you, and your decision is hereby affirmed. I am, very respectfully,

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

GEORGE P. EDDY, Esq., Collector, &c., Lewiston, N. Y.

LITHOGRAPHS PRINTED IN COLORS.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 25, 1850.

SIR-I have examined your report under date of the 10th ultimo, on the appeal of Messrs. Williams, Stevens, Williams & Co., from your decision assessing a duty of 15 per cent on colored lithographic prints, as unenumerated in the tariff of 1857, the appellants contending that they should be subjected to a duty of 8 per cent under the classification in schedule G of " engravings or plates, bound or unbound." This Department decided, under the tariff act of 1846, that "colored lithographic prints" should be treated as unenumerated articles and subject to duty as such. But, in that case, it is presumed, the colors were added by the brush after the print had left the press, which might well justify a change of classification, it being, in fact, neither an engraving nor a painting merely, but partaking of the character of both. It is understood, that the articles in question are printed in colors, and that they undergo no additional process or labor after they are taken from the press. If printed in ink, or in the ordinary dark colors of engravings, it is admitted on all hands that they would fall within the classification in schedule G, and the Department can perceive no sufficient reason for determining the classification by the colors in which they are printed. It is not deemed material to decide whether a lithographic "print" can in strict propriety of language be called an "engraving," looking to the manner in which they are, respectively, executed. The terms" engravings or plates, bound or unbound," in schedule G, as popularly used, or in commercial parlance, are believed to be broad enough to embrace both lithographic prints and engravings, and you will permit the entry of these now in question at a duty of 8 per cent under that classification. I am, very respectfully,

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

AUGUSTUS SCHELL, Esq., Collector, &c., New York.

CASTOR SEED.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 12, 1859. SIR --I acknowledge the receipt of your report on the appeal of Messrs. H. J. Baker & Co. taken from your decision subjecting castor seed to duty at the rate of 15 per cent, as unenumerated in any schedule of the tariff of 1857. The article in question is imported, it appears, to be manufactured into castor oil, and, to some extent, without such manufacture it is susceptible of a medicinal use. The appellants contend that it is a "seed," and, as such, entitled to free entry under the classification in schedule I of "garden seeds, and all other seeds for agricultural, horticultural, medicinal, and manufacturing purposes, not otherwise provided for." You do not, of course, deny that it is a seed in the general meaning of that term, but allege that it was not so known in commerce at the passage of the tariff act, but was known as "castor bean," and is therefore not embraced in the provision made for "secds" in schedule I, as claimed by the appellants, but is to be treated as an unenumerated article, and charged with a duty of 15 per cent. There can be no doubt that in its botanical character it differs from the bean, and though it has been called in commercial language a "bean," it has also been known and described as a "seed;" so that the evidence of a uniform commercial name by which the article was known at the passage of the tariff act, is not so clear as to justify its classification on that ground. It was evidently the intent of Congress to regulate the classification of seeds in schedule I by the purposes for which they are to be used. If an article is used and is known as a "seed," though it may also bear some other designation, and is to be used for some one of the purposes specified in the classification in schedule I, and not otherwise provided for in the tariff of 1857, it is entitled to free entry. The article in question seems to fulfill these conditions, and you are instructed to permit entry under that classification free of duty. I am, very respectfully,

A. W. AUSTIN, Esq., Collector, &c., Boston, Mass.

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

MUSTARD SEED.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 12, 1859. SIR-I acknowledge the receipt of your report on the appeal of Messrs. Iasigi, Goddard & Co. from your decision subjecting to duty at the rate of 15 per cent, as unenumerated in any schedule of the tariff of 1857, "mustard seed," the appellants claiming to enter it free of duty under the classification of " garden seeds, and all other seeds for agricultural, horticultural, medicinal, and manufacturing purposes, not otherwise provided for," in schedule I of the tariff of 1857. Mustard seed being imported for the purpose of being manufactured into the article known in the trade as mustard, as well as for medicinal uses, falls clearly within the classification in schedule I as claimed by the appellants, and not being otherwise provided for in the tariff of 1857, is entitled to entry free of duty. I am, very respectfully,

A. W. AUSTIN, Esq., Collector, &c., Boston, Mass.

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

PROTEST AND APPEAL, UNDER FIFTH SECTION OF THE TARIFF ACT OF 1857.

To prevent, in future, misapprehension as to the time within which protests may be made to the collector, and appeal taken to this Department, from his decision, under the 5th section of the tariff act of the 3d March, 1857, it will be distinctly understood that the Department can entertain no case of appeal from the decision of the collector as to the rate of duty on imports, in which the protest shall not have been made before the expiration of ten days from and after the final liquidation of duties, and the appeal taken within thirty days from and after the date of the final liquidation of duties, which must be held to be the final decision of the collector as to the rate and amount of duties to be exacted in this case.

PERCUSSION CAPS.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 29, 1859. SIR-The Department has had under consideration the appeal of Messrs. A. & E. Scheitlin from the decision of the collector at New York, assessing duty at the rate of 24 per cent upon an article known in commerce as “percussion caps," under the classification in schedule C of the tariff of 1857, as mandfactures, articles, vessels, and wares, not otherwise provided for, of brass, copper, gold, iron, lead, pewter, platina, silver, tin, or other metal, or of which either of those metals, or any other metal, shall be the component material of chief value." The importers claim to enter the articles in question at a duty of 15 per cent under the classification of "fulminates, or fulminating powders," in schedule E of the tariff of 1857. "Percussion caps" cannot, in the opinion of the Department, be properly treated as a "manufacture of copper" within the popular or commercial use of these terms; the chief utility and purpose of the articles be ing as a "fulminate," and the copper being merely used to enclose the fulmina ting powder. The value of the fulminating powder is believed to exceed that of the metallic cap, so that copper is not the material of chief value. The article in question, therefore, in the opinion of the Department, cannot be treated as a manufacture of copper, or of which copper is the " material of chief value," ander schedule C, and made liable to a duty of 24 per cent. The terms “ fulminates, or fulminating powders," in schedule E, would seem to include "percussion caps." The percussion cap is a fulminate, and so designated in the best authorities accessible to the Department, and should be subjected to duty at the rate of 15 per cent under that classification. I am, very respectfully,

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

AUGUSTUS SCHELL, Esq., Collector, &c., New York.

COMMISSIONS.

It is required by law that duties should be assessed on commissions in every case at the usual rates. A regulation of the Department forbids the assessment of duties on commissions at rates less than 2 per cent, without its special authority, previously given. In cases where it is claimed that duties should be levied on commissions at rates less than 2 per cent, and the Department has not heretofore sanctioned the allowance, at such rates, and the collector is satisfied that the rate claimed is the usual one, he will report at once the case to the Department, with his opinion, with the reason therefor, and await its decision. When rates less than 24 per cent have been or may be authorized by the Depart ment, and the collector is satisfied that there has been a change of rate, he will, at once, report that fact, and his reasons therefor, to the Department, for its consideration and action. The object of this regulation is to produce uniformity st the several ports in this matter, and is intended to supersede and modify regula tion contained in article 306, of General Regulations of the 1st of February. 1857, only so far as it conflicts therewith.

PAINTINGS ON GLASS.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 29, 1850. SIR--I acknowledge the receipt of your report on the appeal of Messrs, Heroy, Struthers & Co. from your decision subjecting to duty at the rate of 24 per cent, under the classification in schedule C of the tariff of 1857, of "glass, colored, stained, or painted," an article described by them as "paintings on glass," the appellants claiming entry of the same, free of duty, under the classification, in schedule I, of "paintings and statuary." The article is understood to be painted glass to be used for windows, &c. The tariff of 1846, in schedule C provided for "glass, colored, stained, or painted," and for "paintings on glass," and in schedule I for "paintings and statuary imported in good faith as objects of taste and not of merchandise." It was decided under that tariff that "paint ings on glass," being specially provided for in schedule C, were to be considered