The Press.
London, England, 1854-09-09 00:00:00

850

EXPORT TRADE.
A RETURN has just been issued by the Board of Trade
of the declared values of British and Irish produce
and manufactures exported from the United King-
dom in the year 1859, specifying the amount to each
country and colony. This document shows the order
in which the various communities of the world rank
as our customers ; and one of the most remarkable
facts it presents is, that, owing to the extraordinary
increase of more than 10,000,0001. in our consign-
ments to Australia, our own dependencies now take
above one-third of the gross amount of exported va-
lues, although the total has reached 98,933,7811.,
against 78,076,8541. in 1852. The United States, in
eluding California, likewise figure for a great increase
—namely, from 16,567,7371. in 1852 to 23,658,427!.,
at which they now stand. It is the augmentation in
this case, indeed, coupled with that to our own colo-
nies, by which the comparison of the exports of the
two years exhibits so striking an improvement, since
the aggregate of shipments to all other countries has
remained almost stationary, such slight alteration as
has taken place being in the direction of a decline.
Among the British possessions which, next to Aus-
tralia, continue to show an enlargement of trade, are
India, Canada, the settlements of South Africa, and
Mauritius. The West Indies remain stationary, and
Hongkong, owing to the Chinese insurrection, exhi-
bits a considerable falling off. Among the foreign
countries our exports to which have declined are
China, Brazil, France, Egypt, Tuscany, Naples, the
Republics of the River Plate, New Granada, Vene-
zuela, Hayti, and Greece. Turkey also shows a
slight reduction, but remains far beyond Russia, al-
though in the insignificant total to that country there
has been an increase, caused probably by extended
purchases towards the end of the year under the ap-
prehension of a blockade. With regard to other
countries, those which present the most prominent
improvement are Mexico, Holland, Belgium, Spain,
Portugal, Chili, Peru, Denmark, and Sweden and
Norway. The graduated list is as follows
1. British possessions—
Australia

India .. • • •
North America ..
West Indies .. • ,
South Africa .
Gibraltar
Channel Islands
Mauritius
Hongkong ..
Malta • • • •
lonian Islands ..
Other possessions
2. United States ..
8. Germany—
Hanseatic Towns
Prussia

Hanover ..

4. Holland ..
6. Brazil .. .•
S. France .. • •

7. Turkey—
Turkey .. • • • •
Wallachia and Moldavia

A. China ..

2. Spain
10. Belgium
11. Portugal
12. Chili ..
13. Peru . •
11. Russia ..
1 Cuba ..
11. Sardinia
17. Mexico..
V. Egypt .•
1). Tuscany
21. Naples and Sicily ..
$l. Austria in Italy . •
IL West coast of Africa ..
21. Denmark • • •
21. Java and Sumatra . •
25. Sweden and Norway ..
$6. Buenos Ayres .. • •
117. Uruguay
28. New Granada .. • •
29. Philippine Islands ..
30. Syria and Palestine ..
31. Venezuela
32. Papal Territories ..
33. Greece .. • • • •
$4. Hayti .. • • • •
$5. Morocco
SG. Senegambia .. • •
Other countries .•

..

.. £14,513,700
• 8,165,b95
▪ 4,898.541
.. 1,906,839
1,212,630
.. 870,840
.. 470,107
.. 385,879
.. 375,908
.. 297,906
.. 118,567
347,787
• • 33,382,202
.. 23,658,427

.. 27,093,314
579.588
• • 472,179
8,145,081
.. 4,452,956
• • • . 3,166,407
• • • • . 2,636,330
••• • .

.. .C 2,021,305
179,510

2,208,815
1,37;689
1,468,357
1,371,817
1,335,382
1,264,942
1,246,736
1,228,404
1,124,864
1,112,447
791,940
787,111
639,794
839,544
637,313
617,764
569,733
558,212
556.183
561,035
529,683
450,804
386,552
306,680
248,190
207,491
135,315

75,257
1,725
912,662

D 8,933,781

MEMBERS OF Cosoits.ss (says the New York Tribune) are
now too well paid. There are perhaps thirty men in the
two houses who are worth more than the regular pay; but
the great majority don't know how to earn 8 dols. per day
anywhere else, or we should have no eight months' sea-
alone. If the pay could be cut down to 1,000 dols. per
session, with ten cents per mile for actual travel computed
by the shortest route to and from Washington, with 10
dols. per day deducted for each day a member fails to
attend, and a like sum for each failure to answer at a call
of the yeas and nays, we should have short sessions and
every way improved legislation. Then men of character
and ability, whose time is worth at least MO dols. per
week, would accept nominations, knowing that the public
business would be promptly despatched, and they be per-
mitted to return to their own ; but now they can't afford
it, because the small people spin out the sessions and use
up better men's time in order to pocket their 6 dols. per
day for the longest possible period. The 2resent system is
a very bad one, and is m Bug hands that we apprehend it
will not moos b bitten

THE PRESS.

PUBLIC INCOME AND EXPENDITURE.
A PARLIAMENTARY return to an order of the House of
Lords contains an account of the public income
and expenditure for the year ending the sth of July,
1854:-
It appears that the ordinary revenue and receipts were as
follows :-Cu5t0m5,20,343,7481.138.5d.; exci5e,15,171,9791.
10s. 3d. ; stamps, 6,986,4701. 12s. Bd. ; taxes (land and as-
sessed), 3,167,1451. Is. 3d. ; property tax, 6,402,4061. 17s. ;
Post-office, 1,232,0001.; Crown lands, 260,0001.; deduc-
tions on pensions and salaties, 4,6721. 4s. 4d. ; small
branches of the hereditary revenues of the Crown, 8,6111.
17s. 3d. ; surplus fees of regulated public offices, 103,2531.
18s. 9d. Total ordinary revenue, 53,680,2881. 14s. 11d.
The other receipts were :-Sale of old stores, I.tc., 390,5311.
3s. Bd. ; imprest and other moneys, 308,4111. 3s. tid. ;
money received from the East India Company, 60,0001.
Total for the year, 54,439,2311. 2s. Id.
The expenditure during that period was as follows :-
Permanent debt, unfunded debt, and interest on Exche-
quer Bills, 27,733,6631. 4s. 10d. ; civil list, 400,0351. ; an-
nuities and pensions, 351,19'21. 10s. 11d. ; salaries and
allowances, 268,6791. 2s. sd. ; diplomatic salaries and pen-
sions, 148,1761. lfle. ld.; courts of justice, 1,131,2761. Os.
Id.; miszellaneous charges on the Consolidated Fund,
212,4591. 9s. Id.; army, 6,705,8821. ; navy, 8,484,4691. Os.
10d.; ordnance. 3,395,8901. Ils. 9d.; Kafir war, 230,0001.;
civil services, 4,278,6611. 1 ls. 3d. ; unclaimed dividends
(more than received), 40,1861. 95.: total, 53,::+80,5521.
10s. 3d., leaving an excess of income over expenditure of
1,058,6781. Ils. 10d.
The balances in the Exchequer on the sth day of July,
1853, were 5,112,6391.55. 9d; money raised in the year
ended the sth day of July, 1854, by the creation of funded
debt, nil ; Exchequer Bonds, 1,601,9001.; Exchequer Bills,
19,730,900/. ; Exchequer Consolidated Fund Bills,
1,290,0001.; excess of income over expenditure in the year
ended sth July, 1854, 1,058,6781. Ils. 10d.: total,
28,794,117/. 17s. 7d.
The issues were as follows :-For the redemption of the
public debt, 3,146,1061. 13s. 2d. ; of which sum, however,
3,125,7321. Is. 6d. was applied in redemption of Exchequer
Bills. To paying off dissentient holders of South Sea
Stock, 7,571,8591. 3s. Bd. ; and holders of Bank Annuities,
476,2711. 10s. Bd. Funded debt paid off, 8,068,5051. Os.
To the Paymaster-General, to tiny off supply bills, &c.,
15,907,3001.: to the Paymaster-tyeneral, to pay of Exche-
quer Consolidated Fund Bills, 790,000/. ; balance of ad-
vances for local works, 25,2251. 10s. 6d. Balance in the
Exchequer on the sth day of July, 1854, 4,003,0871. Is. ld.

DOWNING_STREET.

PußLic attention has of late been so strongly directed to
the state of the official buildings in Downing-street and its
neighbourhood, that it may perhaps not be out a season if
a few facts be brought to light. It appears by the sixth
report from the Woods and Forests, presented to the
House of Commons on the sth of June, D 429 ( twenty-
five years ago), that the sum of 95,9601. Ss. was
paid, or had been agreed for, for the purpose of
clearing a site for rebuilding the present office, as well
as such additions as were then required. The ground
was then cleared, and from that time it has laid a perfect
waste, the interest of the vast sum lost, and the annual
payment of poor rates chargeable upon the houses pulled
down paid to the parishes up to the present moment.
Nor is this all. From the dilapidated,not to say dangerous,
state of the offices, a very large annual charge has been
going on in upholding them—perhaps from 1,00111. to
2,0001. annually, Since that period the absolute require-
ments for the public service have greatly increased ; so much
so that it now appears there is arental approaching 20,0001.
per annum charged to the public. Now, these amounts put
together, with interest, will give a loss to the public of per-
haps 250,0001. per annum, and that irrespective of the large
annual rent paid for office accommodation. How strange,
then, must it appear to every man of business to hear the
Chancellor of the Exchequer say he would gladly alter the
state of things, if his finances would afford it? Another
point connected with this extraordinary fact is, that Sir
William Molesworth should tell the House of Commons he
is having (as though it was now thought of for the first
time) plans prepared. Might it not be as well that he
should look to or revive plans in existence? It is very well
known that when Sir John Soane rebuilt the Council office
and Board of Trade, he prepared plans for the south side
of Downing-street, with a frontage in King-street, to corre-
spond with the Board of Trade and Home-office, intending
to connect the two buildings by an archway, enclosing
Downing-square when rebuilt, and further intending to
connect these buildings with the State Paper-office, thus
laying down a scheme for what is now deemed so essential
—a general combination of public offices; and if Sir Wil-
liam will take a little further trouble, he will find, or should
find, plans prepared by Mr. Decimus Burton for the same
object. Now, surely the public have a right to know why
it is that these proceedings have been so long going on.
It really seems almost necessary that those who have the
management of public works should unlearn what they
have learnt, dismiss old habits and customs, and set to
work in right earnest, taking the example of our large
private establishments, with all the modern appliances that
science and indomitable perseverance can effect.—Corre-
'pendent of the Builder.

SOME advice for saving corn when cut in damp weather
is communicated by M. Prideaux to the Agricultural
Gazette. He says :—" A field of white oath, near Plymouth,
was cut wet, and, the weather continuing the same, was at
last stacked in layers, with dry straw between. On taking
abroad the rick, the grain was found in excellent condition,
not sprouted nor damaged in any way. And what answered
with so precarious a grain as white oats will stand a better
chance with wheat, or even barley. In this way thousands
of acres might have been saved which have been left to
sprout on the ground ; and where straw is all u•od up other
dry irtalks, or ova slayings, might answer."

SATURDAY,

rilitttal ant 6flttrai.

MR. ACTON, the Mayor of Wigan, has published
his address, announcing himself a candidate for the
honour of representing it in Parliament, on Liberal
principles. Mr. Woods, who had been applied to by
a body of electors, in a letter, dated from Kiasengen,
in Germany, declines to divide the Liberal party by
becoming a candidate on this occasion.
THE Maidstone Journal, which has been estab-
lished nearly seventy years, intimates that, in conse-
quence of another considerable rise in the price of
paper, the proprietors have been compelled to raise
the price from M. up to 6d.
THE FORTIFICATION OF FALMOUTH HARBOUR is
now determined upon by the Government, who have
ordered the construction of a series of works on an
extensive scale, which shall effectually guard the
rights of vessels calling at that port as well as protect
the property along that coast. A contract has been
entered into by the Board of Ordnance with Messrs.
Olver and Sons to erect a range of fortifications at St.
Mawes and Pendennis Castle, and the contractors,
who are bound to complete the whole in six months,
have commenced drawing materials for the under-

taking.
A BATCH OF FORTY-ONE GERMAN TAILORS arrived
in Newcastle on Saturday by steam-boat from Ham-
burg. They were engaged by a deputation of em-
ployers, in order to fill up the places of the men now
on strike. The workmen previous to leaving Hamburg
engaged to abjure the " Union," and very willingly
agreed to the terms offered by the employers.
Another lot have engaged to come to Newcastle upon
the same terms, as soon as the masters require them.
Those who have arrived seem a very respectable
class of men, and their appearance gives an idea of
sobriety and intelligence.
ALTHOUUII it was contemplated to withdraw the
10th Royal Hussars from the East Indies for service
in Turkey, the idea is abandoned, and the corps will
remain its due time in the East Indies. The drafts
of this and other regiments are waiting ready to em-
bark for Bombay per the Earl of Balcarres.
ABRONZE STATUE OF THE LATE DUNE OF WELLING-
TON, by Adams, of Chelsea, is about to be erected in
Norwich. The site will be probably the large open space
called Tombland. The cost of the statue was about
1,0001.
ABOUT two years ago an aquatic weed, previously
unknown to the boatmen, began to spring up in a
part of the Chesterfield Canal, the water some time
previous having become of a deep green colour. Toe
weed spread from its starting-point with amazing
rapidity, and has now reached all the way between
Worksop and Retford, and, unless something is done
to stop its growth, the consequences to traffic must
be serious. The time required to navigate a loaded
boat between the two towns is nearly double what it
was a few years ago, owing to this impediment. Be.
sides being of rapid growth, the plant under pressure
rolls up into great heaps the size of haycocks, so that
boats are frequently brought to a complete standstill.
Its lengthened stem, thickly set with small leaver,
produces an immense quantity of flax-like fibres.
THE BOARD OF TRADE RETURNS for the month
and six months ending the sth of August were issued
on Saturday. The total declared value of the exports
of British and Irish produce and manufactures (in-
cluding only the "enumerated articles") during tin
month and seven months is as follows
For the month. For seven months.
1854
1853
1852 ..
Including the " enumerated articles" (which, since
the beginning of the present year, have been en-
braced in the official return), the month's exports fa
1854 are raised to 9,439,6431., and those of the seven
months to 58,012,6451. These figures indicate this,
in spite of the war, the aggregate exports for the lam
seven months (taking a comparison of the " enumi-
rated articles " only) are nearly two millions in excel
of those of the corresponding period of last year, and
eleven millions and three quarters more than in 1t55!.
The increase, as compared with the corresponding
month of last year, is 377,1051.
THE estate of Ury, formerly the residence of tie
late Captain Barclay, has been sold to Mr. B,
ironmaster, Glasgow, at 120,0001., being the up t
price.
THE appointment of twenty more supernumercr
surveyors of inland revenue for Scotland has betn
authorised by Government. It is stated that sixteen
have already been named.
OWING to the spread of the cholera among fie
troops at Varna, and the consequent heavy dutes
which devolve upon the two Roman Catholic chaplans
to the forces in the East, Messrs. Wheble End
Sheehan, the Government have just despatched Wee
more Catholic chaplains to the seat of war, to &Wad
upon the soldiers of that religion. One of th.se
chaplains is a monastic of the Dominican order ; he
other two are secular priests. The outfit and passige
of one of the three chaplains is defrayed by the 101
of Shrewsbury.