The Express.
London, England, 1860-07-02 00:00:00

. ,
first sight. But if the increased demand for • plea
by manufacturers on the Continent may be takeli
as a sign of diminished political distrust the returns
ass so far favourable.

A great variety of reports on the condition of
the green fruit crops have been received by the
eminent firm of JOIMPH TRAMIS and SONS from
every part the kingdom, and are well deserving of
attention from their bearing upon the statistics of
consumption generally, more especially with regard
to the sugar trade. It would appear that the show
of fruit blossom throughout the kingdom has, on
the whole, been the most abundant known for
many years. There was at one period a
strong probability of an immense crop of every
kind of fruit, including currants, goose-
berries, apples, pearl, cherries, raspberries, straw-
berries, plums, apricots, peaches, and nectarines.
The prospects have since been materially modified
by the very unfavourable state of the weather. The
storms and continued heavy rains have spoilt a
vast deal of fruit. Cherries, strawberries, and
plums appear to have suffered especially. In the
neighbourhood of London plums and wall fruit
promise well, but there is a rather remarkable
concurrence of testimony from the provinces that
the yield of nearly all sorts of stone fruit will be
short. From a general review of these reports,
however, we conclude that, if the weather
in July be forcing, the aggregate crop
of fruit in the United Kingdom will yet
be considerably above an average, notwith-
standing the extensive damage which has un-
questionably been sustained in many exposed or
low-lying districts. It is interesting to notice, too,
that the accounts from the foreigncurrant-producing
districts are very favourable. According to some
of the letters, 50,000 tons of currants will be
shipped, if no mishap occur. The largest crop
on record was 40,000 tons. Although, there-
fore, the price of butchers' meat is exorbitant, and
that of grain and flour may yet rise, consumers
will be glad to learn that there will probably be
plenty of fruit, both at home and from abroad.
The prosperity of some districts of England de-
pends almost solely upon the fruit crop.
The principal feature in the reports from the
manufacturing districts is the continued decline in
the prices of cotton fabrics at Manchester. The
advices from the Indian markets prove to be more
discouraging than was expected, and the demand
for that quarter has received a severe check. In
nearly every instance sellers of cotton manufactures
are obliged to give way in price, and even the

concessions made are insufficient to stimulate
business. The industry of the cotton district,
however, continues active.

The demand for woollen manufactures is like-
wise rather slack, in consequence of the cold rainy
weather, but there is little actual complaint of the
condition of trade. Prices are very firm, owing
to the short supply and high price of wool, and the
manufacturers generally are fairly employed. It
is worthy of attention that the demand runs
mainly on the fine qualities of wool—those in
which labour and skill are moat largely employed.
" Low wools," such as' Bunion and East Indian,
have experienced little fluctuation in value during
the last eighteen months. Consumers Are too well
off, or too expensive in their tastes, to be content
with coarse common goods. Servant girls now-a-
days wear garments of • texture which some
years back could only be obtained by the wealthy
classes.

In the hosiery districts business is rather dull,
pending the setting-in of fine weather, the want
of which checks the demand for all kinds of
" fancy" goods. The Nottingham lace trade is
becoming more cheerful, her MAJESTY having
deigned, as the local reports record with satisfac-
tion, to " wear flounces of Nottingham lace at
" the State Ball " on Friday week.

A special meeting of the Birmingham Chamber
of Commerce has recently been held to receive
the report of the deputation which was appointed
to visit Paris, with a view to the settlement of the
details of the French tariff. It is observed with sa-
tisfaction that the deputation "express their
" opinion from all they saw and could learn that
" there cannot be a shadow of doubt that the
" French Government wish for a good trade to
" be carried on between England and France, and
" that all steps taken by the present Conseil
" Superieure de Commerce" (the Commission ap-
pointed by the Marmot, for the purpose of
taking evidence from French manufacturers)
" seem to have but one aim—viz., the creation of
" a scale of duties which would produce a large
" revenue for France." The immediate object of
the French inquiry is probably to "arrive as
" nearly as possible at an estimate of the degree
" of protection which the French manufacturer
" ought to have so as to be able to compete
" successfully with the English manufacturer."
The deputation have recapitulated the substance
of the evidence given by them before the CounciL
The points to which some of their statements
applied were the relative merits of English and
French workmen. The former, it is alleged,
have the advantage where strength and durability
are concerned, and the latter where taste and
nicety are essential. The discussion extended to
the wages paid to each—the rate being double in
England of what it is in France ; and to the
nature of the French articles, which are sent
into our market at prices lower than those at
which the English manufacturer can produce
them. The effects of free trade in England were
also, we are informed, adverted to. "At the
" time when the English tariff was consider-
" ably reduced, the shops in even our rnanufac-
" taring town of Birmingham were gradually filled
" with German steel toys, edge tools, cutlery, and
" other articles. Our workpeople, seeing the
" productions of other nations sold in their own
" markets, soon began to make these articles, and
" so successfully did they compete with them that
" now but very few of such articles are imported
" into England." It is thence inferred that the
French will soon imitate our goods. We cannot
help thinking, however, that our manufacturers
have little to fear from this kind of competition.
The belief that the new Russian loan, at the
price fixed, would meet with little favour in this
country, is confirmed. It is now said that the
impression hitherto prevailing that the loan is •
failure is not accurate, a number of large houses,
both here and on the Continent, having afforded
to it a material degree of support. That the
English public, however, have held aloof is mani-
fest, and the indifference of the Stock Exchange
and financial world is shown in the fact (a
fact which, by-the-way, attests the honour-
able conduct of the agents for the loan
in refusing to lend their countenance to
any artificial operations in the market) that the
scrip is barely saleable at par. The position of
the negotiation furnishes a very remarkable proof
of the disfavour, not to say discredit, into which
foreign investments have of late years fallen. In-
vestors feel that it is better to employ their
money at home, evi:n at a lower rate of interest.

Captain Hoare, R. N., iN appointed Naval A ttaellif
to ler Majesty's Embassy at Paria

.. r ,
TICS • 310tri). •

:1-tr- • THE CENSUS BILL.
We give in another column the memorial on this
subject presented to Lord Palmerston on Saturday,
with the names of 167 members of parliament by
whom it was signed. We are assured on good au-
thority that the number of signatures might have
been raised to 200 if the presentation could have
been delayed a few days longer. So powerful a re-
monstrance has rarely been presented to a minister.
We understand that the gentlemen who presented
the memorial took an opportunity of stating their
convictions very fully, and that they impressed on
Lord Palmerston the strong feeling which they had
found existing in their constituencies on the sub-
ject. An bon. member sitting for one of the largest
constituencies in the kingdom stated that on no
other subject had he ever received so many
letters from his supporters. Lord Palmerston
admitted the strong claim which a memorial so
numerously signed had upon the serious attention of
the Government ; but those who oppose the ob-
noxious clause of the bill must not think that the
necessity for exertion is greatly diminished. Those
who do not come much in contact with our governing
classes can form no conception of the absolute ina-
bility of many of our publiz men to look
at propositions in which religious principles
are involved from any other point of view than
that of the politico-ecclesiastical system in which

they have been brought up. If even they well
understood that, a great advance would have been
made towards undersanding the difficulties of those
who cannot adopt it. But when the conduct of the
civil government in matters of religion is in question,
principles and maxims which to many millions
of Englishmen of the middle classes are as the very
alphabet of political science, are as unintelligible
to our rulers as if they were the speculations of a
Bhnddist sage. We trust, however, that the
Government will have at least the political saga-
city to retrace its steps and retire from a path
which, if persevered in, must have a disastrous
effect, not only on its own fortunes, but on the per-
manent interests of the liberal party. The in-
justice which will be perpetrated if this measure is
persevered is is such as will never be forgotten or
forgiven.