To assist in forming a correct judgment as to the fairness of this compensation, the committee present an estimate of the probable cost of running the said ships.
The cost of the ships at $900,000 will be $2,700,000. Upon this amount, interest should be calculated at 6 per cent.; for, although the contractors will pay the Government but five per cent. on the portion advanced, the balance supplied by the contractors, must be estimated at the rates in New York and New Orleans, which are above six per cent. Six per cent. will be a fair average for the whole.
The depreciation of this kind of property is estimated variously, sometimes as high as ten per cent. per annum on the total cost; but as these ships will be substantially built for war purposes, it may be estimated at a lower rate.
Besides this, an allowance must be made for repairs. New boilers will be required every six years, and the substitution of these for the old ones not only causes loss of time, but also injury to the ships involving much expense.
The rate of insurance for this species of property is high. The committee are informed, that the steamships Ohio and Georgia pay 8½ per cent.
Add the expense of running the ships, viz., fuel, wages of the crew, provisions, stores, dock charges, harbor dues, agents, pilotage, light-house dues, &c., which cannot be estimated at less than $50,000 per voyage, considering that the distance to Liberia, and thence home, via Madeira, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Lisbon, Brest, and London, is about 12,000 miles; and that each voyage, with the necessary delays in the various ports, will occupy about three months.
| Statement of expenses. | ||
| Interest on $2,700,000, at 6 per cent. | $162,000 | |
| Depreciation and repairs, 10 per cent. | 270,000 | |
| Insurance 7 per cent. | 189,000 | |
| Cost of running the ships, $50,000 per voyage, 12 voyages per annum, | 600,000 | |
| Total annual expense— | $1,221,000 | |
| Profits. | ||
| Estimating 1500 passengers for each voyage, and 12 voyages per annum, we have 18,000 passengers. These, $10 for adults and $5 for children, may average a profit of $3 each, making | $54,000 | |
| Government pay | 480,000 | |
| 534,000 | ||
| Balance of expense over Government pay and profit of emigrants | $687,000 | |
Thus it will be seen that the contractors will have, of their probable expenses, more than two-thirds of a million, or $57,250 each voyage, to be made by commerce and passengers, independent of the Government pay and the profit from the Colonization Society. It is quite evident that any further profit, beyond the ordinary rate of interest at 6 per cent., will be contingent upon the success of the enterprise in stimulating commerce with the United States at the points regularly touched by these steamers. The contractors have confidence in this, and the committee do not doubt that their confidence will be rewarded to a reasonable extent.
It will be observed, that as the Colonization Society now pay for the transportation of emigrants to Liberia, in sailing vessels, no less than $30 per head, the proposed arrangement will make the actual cost eventually less than this, even adding the amount to be paid by the United States for this service, to the amount to be paid by the said society, without estimating the receipt from mails, which will probably be large.