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    750 THE LEADER, [No. 436, Jtjxy 31,1858.

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    ^4 X* * i dStttWXult Htllt (LOnHntrCUt ——?"-—

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    TEADE OF SIX MONTHS. TABLES. "We present...

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    750 The Leader, [No. 436, Jtjxy 31,1858.

    750 THE LEADER , [ No . 436 , Jtjxy 31 , 1858 .

    ^4 X* * I Dstttwxult Htllt (Lonhntrcut ——?"-—

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    Teade Of Six Months. Tables. "We Present...

    TEADE OF SIX MONTHS . TABLES . "We present our readers almost in extenso—and we trust in an intelligible form—with the account furnished by the Board of Trade of the external commerce of the country for the first six months of the year . In repeating month after month these tables , ¦ which embrace two years , we shall enable our readers , by comparing the returns for each month with those of the . preceding month ,

    to trace the progress of the national trade from month to month , as well as from year to year . The Board publishes accounts of the quantities of dutypaying articles which are taken into consumption , which—as these tell us nothing of the consumption of articles -which pay no duty , whether imported or produced at Lome , and are therefore very incomplete , and partial revenue accounts , not accounts of trade at all—out readers ¦ will lose nothing by then being excluded from , our pages . "We exclude also

    as much too anmute for any important purpose the different countries from which we bring or to which we send commodities . THs information is extremely interesting after the lapse of a certain time , bat the imports or the exports may vary to each country so much from temporary causes from month to month , that it leads to inaccuracy to attend much to returns for short periods , though we shall not fail to direct the attention of our readers to the course trade generally follows , and

    to any remarkable changes which occur in it even temporarily . The first of our tables states the total imports in the first six . months of 1857 and 1858 . The second states only the quantities of the principal / articles of foreign merchandise exported , such as coffee , cotton , wool , & c , which must be deducted from the imports of these articles to ascertain the quantities of them retained for home consumption . Die third table gives the declared value of all the products of native industry exported . The foTirth and fifth state the

    tonnage and number of vessels which come into and go out of all the ports of the empire . And the sixth , these three being all extremely brief , records the value of the gold and silver imported and exported in the six months , which ought always to be added to the other exports and imports , to ascertain the total value of the trade of the empire . From this brief introduction to our compilation , we pass to consider the chief facts in our six months ' trade , which these tables bring to light . And first of our

    Imposts . —In the first six months of 1858 , as compared to the first six months of 1857 , the imports have declined principally as follows : Animals about 29 per cenfc ., bristles to one-third , flax 40 per cent ., goat ' s-hair to less tlian one-third , wet hides 34 per cent ., tanned hides 57 per cent ., raw Bilk 48 per cent ., thrown , silk 4 . 6 per cent ., brandy to less than one-fifth , tallow 22 per cent ., tar to less than one-third , timber 26 per cent ., and wool 10 " per cent . Of the following important articles , however , the imports have increased in 1858 . Coffee BO per cent ., wheat 80 per cent ., flour 130 per cent ..

    cotton 5 per cent ., guaaio 200 per cent ., hemp 44 per cent ., dry lides 14 percent ., copper 12 per cent ., oil 22 per cent ., potatoes fivefold , rice 85 per cent ., sugar 9 per cent . The differences in the other articles are too small , or the articles themselves are too trivial , to be worth enumerating . On the whole , considering the great extension of our trade in the early part of 1857 and the convulsion ¦ which ensused towards the end of the year , the effects of which were particularly felt in the first xaontha of the present year , the falling off in bur nhipotts TQ not so great as might have been expected . This tends to confirm the statement that the con- i i * , -

    vulsion of 1857 was rather an adjustment of accounts between speculating lenders and borrowers than a serious interruption to the actual and necessary business of the world . It was a derangement in the machinery for carrying on trade , not a diminution in trade itself . Tlie machinery , is still deranged . Its main spring , credit or confidence , is still extremely weak , but the real work to be done

    is not much lessened ; in fact , this is entirely founded on the wants of mankind , which are perpetually increasing . On this real work the improper conduct of a few banks and discount houses , which so exclusively engaged the attention of the Bank Acts Committee , can have little influence , and an increasing quantity is always to be done by the merchants and bankers who have the sagacity to find out the means of doing it . The comparatively little deterioration of our trade is worthy of furtlier illustration . In 1 S 56 the country was very prosperous , and the value of the imports ia the first five months of the vear was 42 , 313 , 5277 . Now the value of the imports in the first five months of the present year , for which only we yet possess the return , is 44 , 486 ., 621 / ., actually 2 i 173 , 094 ? . more than in 1856 . It is , however , 8 , 639 , 181 £ . less than the value of the imports in the first five months of 1857 ; but this falling off results more from a decline in the prices than in the quantities of the imports . Thus , in the first week of April , 1858 , the price of coffee was 15 per cent ., of wheat 30 percent ., of flax 4 percent ., of hemp 12 per cent , of jute 14 per cent ., and of silk nearly 30 per c « nt . lower than m the corresponding week , of 1857- The price , too , of cotton , linseed , tea , sugar , hides , & c , has been sensibly and even considerably lower in 1858 than in 1857 , so that the reduction , in the value of the imports is more the consequence of our giving less for them to the foreigner than of our obtauiing only smaller quanti-. ties . As a confirmatory fact , it may be noticed that the tonnage of vessels entering inwards "with cargoes in the first six months of 1858 , which is the est criterion of the total quantities imported , was 243 , 098 more than in the first six inonths of 1857 . To the present time nearly prices have continued to decline , which may help to explain the continued suspension of speculation , which is never very active when the markets are falling . Now , the bottom seems to be reached ; and should this be the case , we may anticipate a more hopeful feeling in the merchants , greater confidence , and increased activity . Our imports of wool—to notice the raw materials of our manufactures—are considerably less in the present than in , the past year . But it will be seen , on consulting our second table— " the exports of foreign , merchandise "—that the export of foreign wool is only 10 , 722 , 104 lbs . in 1858 against 16 , 677 \ 335 lbs . in 1857 ; and on consulting our third table , that the declared value of home-grown wool exported was 362 , 125 £ . against 466 , 944 / . in 1857 . The quantities were , 5 , 259 , 835 lbs . in 1858 against 6 , 259 , 241 lbs . in 1857 . Though , our imports of voel are less , the quantities we retain tor home consumption in 1858 are upwards of 7 , 000 , 000 lbs . more than in 1857 . Of cotton , our imports are 264 , 797 cwt . more in 185 S than in 1857 , and our exports are 207 , 574 cwt . less , so that we have this year 472 , 371 cwt . more of the raw material , equal to nearly 9 per cent , of the total imports than last year . Of silk , the- case is somewhat different . Our exports are greater and our imports less . But in 1857 our imports of silk were no less than 12 , 077 , 931 lbs ., more than double the average of the previous six years , and almost double the largest quantity ever previously imported . We can well spare some of our supplies to our continental neighbours , and yet possess plenty for our own manufacturers . The export of silk is only 31 , 958 lbs . less in 1858 than in 1857 , which , on the total export , 889 , 098 lbs ., is less than 4- per cent . Our neighbours , whose crops of silk liave been very short for two years , are not extending very rapidly their manufacture of silk , and the falling off in the cotton and wool exported , required by their manufacturers , is evidence that they continue to suffer even more than wo euiTcr from the convulsion of 1857 . Another subject of tliis kind on -which we must make a remark is leather . Next to our textile fabrics , this is the material of one of ouv most important industries . In the present year the imports of wet hides and tanned hides have fallen off considerably , as already noticed . But the export of bides , has increased from 63 , 150 cwt . in 3 , 857 ,

    to 101 , 741 cwt . in 1858 . At present , therefore , ouT supply of the raw material is not great , but as the price of hides is lower than last year , it seems ade quate to our wants . uc ~ The Exports of the products of our native in dustry have declined from 60 , 826 , 381 ; . declarW ? value in 1857 to 53 , 467 , 804 / . in 1858-a reduSm of 12 per cent ., which , like the decline in the value of the imports , is also due in part to lower prices Compared to 1 . 856 , the declared value of 1858 is only 500 , 000 / . less , with a probability of its beinegreater at the close of the year . The decline i £ 1858 lias attected chiefl

    y apparel and slops , cordaee and cables , earthenware , fish , haberdashery hard ware and cutlery , leather , linen and linen-yarn " most metals , silks , especially thrown silk and twist spirits ( the remarkable export o { which to Prance has now nearly censed ) , reuned sugar , wool and woollen . Several very important articles , however , are exported to a greater extent than last year . Amongst them are beer , coals , cottons ( the value of which exported to China has increased from 4 S 6 3 S 1 C / . in 1857 to 953 , 694 / . in 1 S 5 S ) cotton-yarn , sadlery , machinery of all kinds , seed * oil , 8 cc . The decline in our exports , therefore , is by no means general , and the decline being principally to the United States and Australia , we may expect a comparative increase in the latter months of the year .

    It must now be remarked that the declared value of the exports in the month of June , 1858 , was only 400 , 000 / . less than in June , 1857 , and June , 1856 ; while the average reduction on the previous five inonths was 1 , 400 , 000 / . per month . The comparative decline , then , which has taken place in the early part of the year has very much diminished , if it has not entirely ceased , and taking into consideration our large supplies of raw materials , comparative abundance of food , and the gradual restoration of confidence abroad as well as at home , we may expect that the value of our exports in the last months of 1858 will exceed the value in the

    last months of 1857 , and that our total exports in 185 S will not at the end of the year fall tar . short of tlie vast exports of 1857 . A significant sign is to be found in the tonnage of shipping entered outwards with cargoes . In tlie month of June , 1858 , it was 51 , 808 more than in the corresponding . month of 1857 , though in the six months the tonnage entered outwards was 212 , 42 s less than in the six months of 1857 . Our trade , then , is again reaching the extent of that year , but it rests now on a sounder basis , with a probability of the

    superstructure rising continually higher . From tie United States , notwithstanding the great depreciation of railway property there as here , the result of " cooking accounts" and similar proceedings , the latest news indicates reviving trade . Since January the falling off there in the imports chiefly of European goods has been fully 50 per cent , as compared to last year , bat of late the stocks on hand have been rapidly declining , and a renewed dernand , though not so extensive as in 1 S 56-7 , will arise . There are additional gold discoveries on the

    Pacific , and no very important decline in the produce of California and Australia . The harvests are generally good ; food promises to be abundant , and money is plentiful and easy . With good security capital can be borrowed on low terms , lleincmbering our large imports , so different from the United States , and our increasing exports , the prospects of our trade seem extremely good ; and Mr . Disraeli has , we think , shown much wisdom by relying m his financial arrangements and in his arguments on the increasing prosperity of the country . His accountindeedof the improvements in the revenue

    , , in the first three weeks of July are quite in accordance with the information we derive from the trade tables , and confirm our belief that increased activity is beginning in trade . "We have as yet not had , as in 1848 , political convulsions to add to the calamities of commercial distress and delay the revival of prosperity . Differing from the late ' Secretary of the Treasury , who was less hopeful in a late

    financial debate than Mr . Disraeli , we think , considering the extent of discredit , that the restoration of confidence has not been slow , and will , ere long , to complete . That it will never again becomo reckless is too much to hope for ; but just in proportion as bankers , discount brokers , and merchants rely oil their own watchfulness and sagacity to keep crcctit within proper bounds , instead of trusting to Acts oi Parliament or the interference of the Executive , we rnny expect that confidence will bo well regulated and will not be deceived .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 31, 1858, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31071858/page/22/