The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-12-11 00:00:00

IS,

MONDAY NIGHT.

THERE have been but slight fluctuations in the
value of the public funds during the week, but the
tendency on the whole has been in an upward direc-
tion. Some part of this improvement may, no doubt,
be owing to the rumoured negotiations for peace, but
we believe it is chiefly attributable to the more satis-
factory state of the Bank accounts since the recent
large arrivals of gold from Australia. No alteration
has yet been made in the rate of discount, though
first-class paper has been done on easier terms than
the Bank limit, notwithstanding a rather active
demand for money. The Bank returns, published on
Friday, show an increase in the stock of bullion of
£87,170, which was to-have been expected; but as the
greater Dart of this increase is in the Banking depart-
ment, which does not affect the right of issue, and
there is an increase in the circulation of £24,185, the
reserve of notes unemployed is only augmented by
£12,840, but the total is more than five-and-a-half
millions.

A rise in the value of the public funds is not at all
times a test of prosperity, inasmuch as the advance
may be occasioned by purchases for investment, which
is supposed to be much the case at the present time,
owing to the large amount of suplus capital unem-
ployed in speculative enterprise.
The shipping returns of the Board of Trade for the
month of October present no variation of importance
as compared with the corresponding period of the two
preceding years. Annexed are the general totals of
entries and clearances ; but, as the columns for the
month ending the 31st of October, 1855, comprise 31
days, and those for the months ending the sth of
November, 1853 and 1854, only 26, a deduction of
five days must be made from the former, which will
bring the entries to 554,679 tons, and the clearances
to 656,330 :

TONNAGE ENTERED INWARD.
Month ending
Nov. 5, N0v..5, Oct: 31.

1853. 1854. 1855.
British Vessels
Foreign Vessels..

T0ta1.... ...... . 676,619 590,063 661,349.
CLEARANCES OUTWARD.
British Vessels .. ....... 329,766 326,943 470,582.
Foreign Vessels.... ...... . 251,524 226,040 311,965.

Total..

..581,290 552,983 782,547.

With regard to the coasting trade, the tonnage
entered inward was 865,865 in the month ending
November, 1853 ; in 1854 it was 852,270; and in the
present return it is 1,161,377, including 38 foreign
vessels of an aggregate burden of 6,643 tons. The
clearances outward were 1,032,719 in November, 1853 ;
1,036,255 in 1854 ; and 1,229,606 (including 4,236
tons of foreign) in 1855.
The Excise statements for the first nine months of
the present year have also been published. The
following table exhibits the quantities of each article
charged with duty during that period as compared
with the corresponding nine months of 1854. A
decline appears in each instance :

FIRST NINE MONTHS.

Quantities retained for Home Con-
sumption in the United Kingdom.
1854. 1855.
_125,251,155
.. 24,028,872
.. 18,143,630
1,180

Paper, lb. ..
Malt, bushels.. .. .
Spirits, gallons
Sugar (home made), cwt

The return from the Bank of England for the week
ending the Ist December gives the following results,
when compared with the previous week :

Public Deposits
Other Deposits
Rest... ...

£4,439,589; Decrease... £359,365
12,234,788 ; Increase ... 705,403
3,185,588 ; Decrease... 50,914

On the other side of the account :
Government Securities £10,275,480; Decrease... £64,368
Other Securities
Notes unemployed
The amount of notes in circulation is £19,075,085,
being an increase of £24,185, and the stock of bullion
in both departments is £11,227,107, showing an
increase of £87,170 when compared with the preceding
return.