The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-08-11 00:00:00

titutional ally, that imperial France was to

arnest sympathiser, and forge the first
link of the favourite chain of despotic and bigotted
Powers, which, it is fondly hoped, will ere long
I Europe, and leave England powerless?
3A and O'DONNELL, tho Czar ALEXAN-
Emperor FRANCIS JOSEPH, the POPE
)N M., would constitute rather a
;ague when combined for any par-
ticular object. They all stand more or less in need
of close combinati',n and moral support. And the
recent and impolitic agitation of the Italian ques-
tion, has shown this necessity, and hastened for
ward its consummation. The CZAR saw clearly the

DER and

and NA

formidable

omplexities which were hanging over the West,

consented to the famous peace pr

breaches of faith are sufficient evi•
tct, that he finds, by the direction the

Bence o

F European intrigue has taken

the realisation of his calculations is closer at
hand than the people of France or England are
aware of, or could readily believe. Russia

THE

dare not disregard her obligations of April in the
month of July, if she thought the maintenance of
the alliance between the Western Powers possible.
Her statesmen would run no further hazards in
war against such a union. Her retention of Kars,
and her occupation of the Isle of Serpents, must
then be viewed as the precursor of some new and
mystic light which is to break forth on a sudden,
and at no very distant hour.
Spain is already Russian—it would be mockery

to call Austria and Prussia anything but despotic
—terror reigns throughout Italy, and it is unneces-
sary to anticipate history by one hour in order to
swell the list of the anti-constitutional phalanx of
the Continent. We have enough before us in all
conscience, to show us that our victories over the
CZAR were not the most popular of events in Court
circles. But what need we care about all the
twaddling compacts of diplomacy? Our success
in a great struggle will always depend on the
popularity of our cause. We may not be able to
drive the world before us, but we can always lead
Europe. The masters of intrigue knowing this,
Ipse no opportunity of placing Great Britain
in a false position, and take extraordinary pains to
belie her sentiments and misrepresent her objects.
This portion of the work was never more actively
carried on than it is at the present moment by the
agents of those countries who hope to rob us of
our faithful friends. Hence the danger of inter-
meddling in the affairs of other States. We
silence the busy tongue of diplomatic slander
when we hold our peace, and leave them to
guess rather than distort, and use what we say
or do for their own purposes. Our strong bold
is in the liberalism which is to be found through-
out the civilised world. We have always the
majority of enlightened nations of the earth to fly
to, to save us from an unholy effusion of blood, or
to aid us in the last struggle for Constitutional
freedom.

Our Allies are the millions of oppressed and
down-trodden men, who, not knowing the nature
of our institutions, and passive character of our
policy, cannot understand why we do not rush
to their rescue without waiting for unpardonable
provocation. Should Russia again give us this
provocation—should Spain continue to outrage
humanity by her butcheries, and endanger the peace
of Europe by her excesses—should the great chain
of despotic combination be drawn too tight around
our " sea-girt isle," our enemies may find that our
civil and religious liberty have the millions of
Europe for their supporters, and that, when we
boast least, we have the most reason to be joyful.
The people of Great Britain are alive to the dan-
gers impending over their heads, and while they
are horrified at the perfidy of foreign courts, and
the sufferings of their fellowmen, they treat with
manly scorn the childish threats of dreaming
diplomates. It is curious to notice the workings
of the current to which we allude, and should it
prove equal to the purpose for which it is designed,
the ultimate issue will show that we have been
duly forewarned, and must gain vastly in a contest
in which civil and religious toleration are to be
the watchwords of the world.

IN a country where we are exposed to very con-

fluctuations in the commercial rates of dis_
ount, it is necessary that we should lay down
some fixed mean level or average rate to which all
parties may look for the reimbursement of their
losses, by great and sudden transitions in the value
of money. When money is only worth two per
cent., the Capitalist is the loser, and when it
advances above four per cent, the legitimate
employers of money are placed at a disadvantage.
Five per cent has always been considered high,
and six per cent. usurious. For the seven, eight,
and ten per cent. regime, commercial indignation
has yet to supply a name. Its relation to civilisa-
tion is as slight as the connection of Whiggery
with every other species of modern enlightenment.
When using these remarks politically, we may be
told that the Whig GALBAS of the present time are
no way related to the ancient CiESARS of their order,
and that we need not concern ourselves much
about the originators of usury, as the era of exor.
bitant banking rates of interest will probably end
with the present possessors of office. Meanwhile,
we may take four per cent. as a just commercial
rate of discount. It represents fairly the value of
money to both lender and borrower ; and without
waiting to calculate what either side of the Money
Market have won or lost by the last forty fluctua-
tions which have taken place above and below four
per cent., we will simply ask why the Bank of
England should demand more than four per cent,
under existing circumstances ?

The increase in the production of gold is going
on steadily, and the importations are greater than
the growing demand for shipment. The bullion
reserve of the Bank of England alone has risen to
12,430,8701., notwithstanding the heavy drain we
have experienced for the last three months. An
abundant harvest, such as we are now likely to be
blessed with, is always equal to 20,000,0001. of gold
in the nation's till. The entire kingdom is
tranquil, and with the promised sufficiency of
food and employment, there is no prospect
of any change for the worse taking place, Our

stocks of the leading articles of consumption are
quite equal to an average supply, and the orders
for our manufactures and mineral products are
ample enough already to set the great springs of
industry in motion Merchants and employers
are only held back by the uncertainty the country
feels with respect to the course the Bank of
England will pursue. Some gentlemen, learned
in such matters, were of opinion that the money
rulers of Threadneedle-street intended to raise
the rate of discount at their last weekly meeting,
and they certainly would have done so, if we had
not been favoured with a few days of sunshine. All
danger has now, however, passed over on this
head. The warm days we have bad, have
left the cornfields ready for the reaper, and
a cloudy sky will.enable the cutting to be carried
on with greater activity. Why, then, should a high
rate of interest be maintained ? Are we to suppose
that the popular joint-stock and private banks,
which do not publish returns, have not participated
as largely as the Bank of England in the rapid
accumulation of gold ?

The aggregate of the bullion reserves of all the
banks of the three kingdoms cannot be less than
40,000,0001. And is it because the Bank of Eng-
land cannot command over 12,430,870/. of gold, that
the mercantile business of the country is to be held
back, and the employment of labour curtailed ?
We have repeatedly shown that the bank returns
now published give us no idea whatever of the
amount of bullion held in reserve by our banks.
vaults,There
whilemay b
the B
e5O, Ooaonk of
,000/. oEfnggolladnd nia y
locked tip in their
°1
one-fourth or one-fifth of that
coffers ; and yet we are made amourltllYin have
its
to payth
ef for
weekly
com-
mercial accommodation, according t
statement put forth from Threadneedle-street!
Such is the gullibility of the age, and the moral
rectitude of those who express so much earnest
solicitude for the well-being of this mighty empire.
We, however, question the loyalty and patriotism,

NORTHERN

to say nothing of the intelligence and general
administrative capacity of any set of men who
would be privy to the working of such a system.
If the quantity of bullion iu the country, on any
given day, is to regulate our trade, commerce, and
industry—to increase or diminish the value of the
entire substance of the nation—we should be
suffered to know the amount of gold held on that
day, by every licensed banker in the three kingdoms.
If this measure of common justice was given to us
in the Gazette every Friday, it would remove many
of the aggravated evils of our trade and labour
crushing bullion system, and it is more than
probable, that the money market would be thence-
forth ruled with firmness and uniformity, from
the Ist of January to the 31st December—a con-
summation fervently to be desired by every class
of the community.

TIMES.-LIVERPOOL,

MON I

MONETARY AND COMMEIICIA.I

LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY EVENING

The Liverpool Cotton Alarket continues without
change, and, with a fair enquiry, prices to-day
have been sustained. The sales amount to 7,000
bales, and include 2,000 taken for speculation and
export.

The Liverpool Share Market again opened
heavily, but improved a little during the day,
and eloSed steady for most descriptions of
stock. Great Western of Canada Shares were
heavy all day. The closing quotations were
as follows :—Aberdeen, 141, 141. Chester and
Birkenhead, 16a 161. Caledonian, 291 30.
Chester and Holyhead, 17 17k. Eastern Counties,
9 1516 10 1-16. East Lancashire, 218 211,
Great Northern, 243 241. Ditto A, 101 10a.
Great Western, 63i 64. Lancashire and Yorkshire
Stock, 971 971. Liverpool, Crosby, and Southport,
183 181. London and North Western, 107 1071.
Manchester, • Sheffield, and Lincoln, 311 xd
Ditto New 6 per cent. Pref., 11-16 13-16 p. Ditto
Pref, 121123. Midland Stock, 8$ 831 North British,
93xn 01. North Staffordshire, 4341 d. South Eastern
and Dover, 228 22 3-16 York, Newcastle, and
Berwick, 21Z 24 York and North Midland, 301
303. Leeds Capital Stock, 181 18Z-. Buffalo and
Lake Huron, Z- ap. Dutch Rhenish, 2 7.16 23p.
Great Western of Canada, 258 251. Ditto New
Shares, 23 2 9-16 p. Great Luxembourg, 9 91d.
The arrivals of specie this week have been small.
There have been no imports from Australia. The
total value of the receipts is about 300,000/., of
which only about 21,0001. have been retained in
this country.

The official return of the exports of bullion
from the port of London, for the week ending
Thursday last, is as follows :—Gold coin—
Belgium, 4,070 ozs ; Boulogne, 160 ozs ; Ham-
burg, 30 ozs. Gold bars—Tonning, 272 ozs ;
Belgium, 3,400 ozs. Silver coin—Belgium, 1,060
ozs ; Boulogne, 1,400 ozs ; and Hamburg, 800
ozs.

The Emigration Commissioners will receive ten-
ders on thel4th inst. for the line of ships to convey
emigrants respectively to Belfast, Port Fairy,
Adelaide, and Melbourne,
It was confidently stated, and generally believed
in London to-day that the difficulty with Russia as
to the occupation of the Isle of Serpents, at the
entrance to the Danube is at an end ; and that the
orders for the British fleet to concentrate in the
Black Sea have been countermanded from London
as well as from Constantinople.
The business done in the London Stock Market
to-day was small, either in public securities or
railways. It will be that the change in the weather,
combined with the absence of business, caused a
slight decline upon yesterday's prices, but, on the
whole, the prevailing feature of the market was
steadiness. The closing prices for Consols were
95 5-16 to 95 7-16, and for Railway Shares as follow—
Caldonian, 59159;,. Eastern Counties, 91 10 East ,
Lancashire, 85 87. Great Northern, 971 983
Ditto A., 82 84. Great Western, 631 631. Lan-
cashire and Yorkshire, 974- 98k. London and North
Western, 107 1071. Manchester, Sheffield,
and Lincolnshire, 341 341. Midland Stock, 831 84.
North British, 37 38. South Eastern and
Dover, 73.1. 731. York, Newcastle, and Berwick,
86 87. York and North Midland, 61 62.
The demand for money in Lombard-street to-
day was only moderate, but there was no change
in the rates of discount. Of the condition of the
market for the past week, we quote the following
from the circular of Mr. William Avens :
Notwithstanding the lower price of corn, and the prospect
of a great harvest, the money market, hitherto, has not felt
the benefit of these favourable circumstances. The market,
indeed, has gone worse and worse, as our expectations of
cheap bread and extended trade have received more and
more confirmation. There must be something abnormal in
this state of things; and many theories are afloat to recount
for it. That corn should have declined 10s, and money
have advanced lOs per cent. simultaneously, implies some
deep seated cause. It is not to be explained by anything
upon the surface. We are inclined to ascribe a good deal
of it to moral as well as financial causes. Undoubtedly,
distrust of the position of the bank of France is strong,
if not general in the city, while there is great apprehension
of the ultimate results of the undertakings in France, and
other parts of Europe, cimmenced by speculative associated
bodies. The gold bought in this market, and at New York,
at prices above the natural market value, is assumed now to
be purchased for the purpose of maintaining the position of
the bank, and of those speculative undertakings. At present
we pronounce no decided opinion upon this part of the case.
We are rather disposed to regard it as exaggerated. Still it
is held in the city by financiers of great practical knowledge ;
and it has undoubtedly much effect in producing that moral
condition in the monied world to which at the present
moment, the tighteness of the market is more especially
owing. In this state of things a number of new schemes
upon the joint Stock principle are announced, which
give rise to well meant cautions ; and the feeling thus
created, obviously affects the operations of those who
deal in capital. To such causes, rather than to any thing
unsound in our own trade, or to any rash speculative
tendencies, we are inclined to attribute the otherwise
inexplicable circumstance of the money market, usually so
sensitive, failing to respond to the improved condition of the
other great interests which, at all previous periods, have
been regarded as tests of the national prosperity. Happily,
however, though confidence is a plant of slow growth, it
does, sometimes when we least expect it, arrive at maturity.
All the causes which have been suggested for the present
unsatisfactory state of things, are in their nature temporary ;
and the conjunction of good harvests, large gold arrivals,
and extended trade, all of which are now in full view, will
undoubtedly dissipate in no long time the evil anticipatior.s
of those who view matters from the darkest side. Money
in Lombard-street is worth 4/ per cent; and on the
Stock Exchange it has never been lower, during the week,
than 5 per cent, owing to the settlement of the Consol
account.
In the Mincing-lane markets this week there has
been a steady but quiet demand for most descrip-
tions of foreign and colonial produce, and previous
prices have generally been supported. Sugar has
been purchased to a fair extent for home con-
sumption, and there has also been a good export
enquiry at the current quotations. Coffee has
ruled firm, and a portion of the quantity offered at
public sale was taken in above the market rates.
There has not been much enquiry for rum. Rice
is threepence to ninepence per cwt cheaper, and
saltpetre has been firm. Spices have generally
been dearer, and a moderate amount of business
has been done. An active demand for cotton has
prevailed, and Madras, as well as Surat qualities
have improved. Tea has been quiet, and at the
public sales previous quotations were generally
realised, At the wool auctions rather firmer rates
have been obtained for the finer sorts, but the
inferior kinds are still at low quotations.
Advices from Galatz, and other grain markets
on the Danube, have been received to the 25th July.
Up to that date the export trade was active, and
the sudden reduction of prices in Western Europe
had had no effect, consequently there were still
latge shipments of grain to Marseilles, and other
ports in the Mediterranean. The stocks of wheat
on hand had been considerably reduced, and
speculators were sending off maize and barley in
large, quantities. A contract for 35,000 quarters
of barley, for delivery in September, was closed at
the rate of 12s. 6d. to 13s. per quarter. Rye,
after being in demand for shipment to Mar-
seilles, was heavy at 255. per quarter. Accounts
from the agricultural districts report less
damage to the wheat crops by the recent heavy
rains than was at first supposed ; and it was stated
that the quality of the grain would not suffer in
any degree. The following are the ruling prices of
grain—Galatz, Ist quality wheat, 44s lld to 47s
10d per quarter, and 2nd ditto " from 30s 2d to 39s
fld per ditto. Braila wheat, Ist quality, 44s 11d to
48s 2d, and 2nd ditto from 31s 6d to 40s 5d per
quarter. Freights were firm at lls to lls 6d per
quarter for England, and the rate of exchange on
London at 94k. In consequence of the recent
tempestuous weather in the Black Sea, the bar at
the Sulina mouth had only 93 feet water upon it,
but it was soon cleared by the dredging machine
to 103 and 12 feet, and would shortly reach 111
and 12 feet.

The inauguration festival of the Birmingham Music Hall
will be held on the 3rd and 4th September. Mr. Alfred
Mellon and Mr. Simms are the conductors, and Madame
Novello and Mr. Reeves the principal vocalists.
THE WEATHER which, for nearly three weeks, continued
so fine and excessively laot, changed on Saturday morning.
There had been indications of a change since Thursday
evening, yet Friday was as bright and warm as any of the
preceding days. Saturday morning, about ten o'clock, the
atmosphere being previously dark and lowering, rain began
to fall very heavily, and continued uninteruptedly up to a
late hour in the evening. The heat was not, however,
abated, nor was the atmosphere so dark as might be
expected. We do not think the rain, after the fine weather
of such continuance, calculated to do much injury, as the
crops have progressed during the past fortnight to maturity ;
and, moreover, we understand that the rain was more local
than general.