The Express.
London, England, 1860-06-11 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 11,

wishes will be gratified if we site them tsagypil in
the possession of that blaming. As kw M. the
Italians are left to dispose of their op opsell end
of their own political fortunes, we ain certainly
not interfere in the affairs of Sicily. Nogg but
the pretension of a foreign Power to establish its
domination there could induce us to depart from
that neutrality which we have hitherto observed.
OR the other hand, it is clear that the
attempt of any great Power to interfere with the
liberty of the Sicilians, and set up a dependent
Prince in their island, would moat certainly com-
pel us to oppose its efforts with all our forms.
Ws have no interest in imposing or even in regu-
lates Italian freedom, but our interests in the
Mediterranean are certainly too great to permit
me to see a territory so important as Sicily pass
under foreign domination.
We offer this remark simply as a necessary
qualification of the amicable disclaimers which the
expressed apprehensionsof apart of the French press
seem to invite, and not as called for by aught that
any government is doing or proposing to do in Sicily.
In fact, we cannot but believe that as all the great
Powers have fairly agreed to leave the BOURDON
to deal with the revolution he has provoked, they
will also recognise the wisdom of leaving the
Sicilians, and the Neapolitans if they also should
be able to acquire freedom, to regulate the enjoy-
ment of their liberty according to their own free
counsels.

THE backwardness of the season, which has
formed almost the sole subject of remark amongst
agriculttuista for some time past, is now attracting
more general notice. The high price of fodder
and the perishing of cattle and sheep by tens of
thousands, has occasioned a great rise in the price
of meat, and this has forced itself upon the atten-
tion of the whole body of consumers. When the
price of meat is high, less is consumed, the de-
mand, especially amongst the poorer classes, being
partly diverted to other articles of food, such as
fish, bacon, ham, potatoes and other vegetables,
rice, bread, &c. An advance in the price of meat
is often, therefore, the herald of an advance in
the prices of all kinds of provisions. The ten•
dency of this movement is of course adverse to the
interest' of the bulk of the community. The pro-
minence acquired by the " food question," as our
neighbours the French term it, is already influ-
encing trade. A genial change in the weather
would go far to inspire confidence ; but it is so
well known that a deficient harvest causes an im-
mediate disturbance in the money market, that
we cannot be surprised if the discussions now
raised occasion a pause in some branches of busi-
ness. The commercial classes, whose attention
has long been concentrated upon the development
of the policy of the French Government, are now
watching the corn markets. The present phase of
the public mind, however, is rather one of watch-
fulness than of apprehension. Meanwhile,
the balance of profit is turning more in
favour of some departments of industry which
have lately been severely tried. The farmers and
graziers are beginning toespect some reimbursement

of the heavy expenses to which they have been
subjected during one of the most trying aeaaooa
on record ; and the shipping interest is rousing it.
self from its depression to note the signs of •
change. A rise in the prices of grain and provi-
sions indicates that the supply is being outstripped
by the demand. Now that our ports are open,
the remedy is immediately applicable. Directly
prices reach the point at which it beoomm worth
the while of the foreign producer or holder to
supply us, foreign supplies will flow in. No
wonder then that the shipowners—the purveyors
of the means of transit between the sea-girt
country which wants to be fed, and the countries
which have food to sell—watch the markets for
corn and other provisions with a keener interest
than any other class of the community.
Trade generally does not seem to be growing
brisker, but its extent is, upon the whole, highly
satisfactory ; and the absence of decided activity
is compensated by the indications of soundness
presented in most quarters. Of disposition to
speculate there is unusually little. Now and then
some unscrupulous adventurer, who has forced
himself iato a spurious kind of credit by dint of
sheer hardihood and impudence, or by skilfully
availing himself of the slackened vigilance of •
few well-to-do houses, comes to the ground ; and
the spectacle causes people to shake their heads,
and to think there must be something very rotten
in the system under which such a person could ob-
tain credit at all. As long, however, as these
instances continue isolated, they merely serve to
mark the existence of elements which are never
wholly absent. There are at present no signs
that transactions like those of JOHN PLIHLRY
EDWARDe are extensively countenanced. Bad
fruit may occasionally drop from the tree of com-
merce, but this does not indicate the existence of
a general blight.

In the cotton manufacturing districts the popu-
lation continues to be very actively employed, but
considerable dukes' prevails in the Manchester
market. In face of the unfavourable advices which
continue to be received from that most important
consuming country, India, buyers will not take
goods for exportation thither, except at a further,
and in some instances considerable, concession in
price. The transactions for that quarter have
consequently been limited ; and, the support from
India being removed, spinners and manufacturers

generally are compelled to give way, the demand
for other markets being relatively of lees im-
portance. In certain classes of cotton goods, such
as printing cloths, the makers ►re still busily em-
ployed upon old orders, and the value of these is
therefore pretty well supported.
From the woollen districts we continue to hear
much respecting the " perplexity " which is occa-
sioned amongst all parties in that branch of trade
by the high prices of the raw material. A con-
flict is going on between the wool dealers
and the woollen manufacturers. The former
point to the scanty supply that comes to
market, and are very firm in their
demands, averring that they see no prospect of
any abatement in price as long as the demand
continues at its present leveL It is reasonable to
infer that the considerations which are now influ-
encing the price of mutton will not be entirely
without an influence upon the price of wooL
Sheep-farming has been a very costly business this
I year, and the farmer must be remunerated not
merely in the price of the meat but also in that of
the wool. The mill-owners, on the other hand,
complain of the absence of any adequate margin
of profit on the manufactured fabrics, and talk of
acting more strictly upon a defensive policy.
In many quarters they merely buy suf-
ficient to keep the machinery at work
and their operatives together. Some manufao.
turas appear to be inclined to try if stopping a
portion of the looms will improve their position,
by curtailing the consumption of the raw wool on
the one hand, and the production of manufactured
goods on the other. Meanwhile, between the
uncertainty occasioned by this divergence of
views, and the check given to trade in certain
fabrics by the lateness of the season, the Immo-

dials business in the asszlosts for woollen goods
is butisoderate in amount. ' In several seats of
ila woollen mailifacture, bewever, the mills are
it full work, and Sniploymetit is Pleifid'lL
If the sag* of west is insuilloient for the
wants of the consumers, so is that of flax. One
of the recent reports from this branch of trade
goes so far as to express indifference to the results
which may flow from the commercial treaty with
France, upon the somewhat narrow ground that
there is no prospect of any new demand being met.
" It is all very well for us to seek for and obtain
" new markets for our manufactured goods," say
Messrs. D. Drwas, Box, and Co., in a late circular,
" but of what value can they be if we are unable
"to supply them I We can only work up what
"we have ; and as the existing requirements
" of the trade have long since exceeded the supply,
" it is useless to look for a wide field to operate
" upon for the disposal of our goods." Many
prospectuses of companies for the cultivation and
preparation of flax, as of cotton, have from time
to time been circulated. Is honest management not
to be obtained, or are public companies in too bad
an odour for any prudent person to embark in
them I

At Leicester, Nottingham, and in the other
hosiery and lace manufacturing districts, the ap-
pearance of summer is impatiently awaited, these
branches of trade being a good deal affected by the
season. Thu consumption of goods suitable for
the spring has been retarded, as we have had no
spring at all ; and summer goods will not go off
until summer weather comes. It is admitted,
however, in the local reports, that " if fine weather
" were to set in, manufacturers would find their
" hands quite full for the home trade," and be
rendered almost independent of orders for abroad.
In several branches of trade in the Staffordshire
districts slackness is observable, and the amount
of employment is scarcely of an average character.
There does not seem to be much complaint, how-
ever, and testimony is borne to the healthiness of
the business going forward. Some of the manu-
facturers at Birmingham have exhausted the
orders upon their books, and are disinclined to
make goods for stock. A by no means incon-
siderable stimulus, however, has been given to
trade by the martial tendencies now displayed by
the youth of the country. Our gallant rifle
volunteers must be armed and equipped, and their
number is now very large. It is accordingly re-
ported that in every branch of what is called
"military work " business was scarcely ever
brisker than it is now.
The reports from the iron trade are somewhat
more cheerful, orders being more numerous, and
the shipping-houses evincing a disposition to ex-
tend their operations.

• LATEST INTELLIGENOX
SICILY.

THE NEW GOVERNMENT..
The Moniteur of to-day publishes a telegram
dated

" NAPLES, JUNI 10
" The evacuation of Palermo by the Royal troops
will terminate to-morrow.

"The troops, who have already commenced to
arrive at Naples from Palermo, have been de-
spatched towards Castellamare and Gaeta.

" The Neapolitan troops in Sicily will be concen-
trated at Syracuse, Messina, and Agosta."
The Moniteur of yesterday contained a despatch
dated Cagliari, 9th inst., according to which a con-
vention had been signed at Palermo between the
royal troops and the insurgents on the 6th inst.
Eighteen thousand Neapolitan troops quitted
their positions on the morning of the 9th, and had
encamped near the Mole, to be ready to embark
immediately.
The citadel would be evacuated after the em-
barkation of the troops and the exchange of pri-
soners.

Letters from Palermo to the 3rd instant give
details of the devastation at Palermo. Numerous
housai had been shattered by the bombs, but
scarosl7 any persons killed.
4The insurgent bands were furious, and had sought
to massacre one hundred spied; and several judges.
Garibaldi had issued a decree calling all Sicilians
to arms between the ages of 17 and 50 years.
Fifty vessels of war were in the roads of Palermo.
General Garibaldi has constituted the govern-
ment of Sicily as follows :
Baron Pisano Foreign Affairs.
Signor Crispi
Signor Orsini (a Sicilian) War.
AM:4 Coligni Public Worship.
It is said to be positive that Garibaldi found
24,000,000 f. in the Treasury.
The report that the castle had boon entrusted
to the English admiral until the embarkation was
accomplished is unfounded.
The Petrie says :
" The principle of non-intervention will be prc-
visionally applied only to Sicily."
The same journal states that Garibaldi has issued
a decree to the effect that the revenue derived from
imposts and customs will be paid over to the insur-
rectional authorities.
VIENNA, eATURDLY Evortma.
A few days ago Signor Carafe, the Neapolitan
minister, assembled the ambassadors of the Great
Powers, and demanded that, in the event of Gari-
baldi proclaiming the King of Sardinia in Sicily,
they should not recognise the annexation, but that
the possession of Sicily should be guaranteed to
Naples. The representatives of the Powers re-
fused to enter into any engageirants.
The King of Naples has recently demanded an
Anglo-French intervention, which was likewise re-
fused.