The Express.
London, England, 1861-08-12 00:00:00

TO OUR RRADIRB.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
A late edition of the Esprem is publishol every
etteuhag duriu4 the racing 110114012, containing the
results of the races.

Tim groat question of the supply of cotton is
steadily acquiring the important dimensions which
we have prepared our readers to look for. There
is an abundance of facts and figures at hand which
may be usefully passed under review, especially
now that the defeat of the Federal army has occa-
sioned a more serious appreciation of the probable
duration of the national struggle in America. Wo
invite attention to the state of a branch of trade,
which imports :n1,000,000/. or 35,000,0001. of
raw produce annually, exports 55,000,000/. of
manufactures annually, furnishes subsistence to
four millions of persons in this country, and con-
tributes more lar;ely than any other to the na-
tional profits. During the past week, owing to
the molt of the battle in America, there has been
a renewal of excitement in the Liverpool cotton
market, and a fresh advance in prices. An idea
of the importance of the movements which have
occurred in the market since the American troubles
arose may be gathered from the fact that, as com-
pared with this date last year, the price of
"middling" American cotton is now fully 40 per
cent. dearer, and " fair " fully 30 per cent, dearer,
whilst the rise in East India descriptions exceeds
21d. per lb. This latter rise is equivalent to no
less than 75 per cent. The general public have
no conception of the anxiety, embarrassment, and
inconvenience which this remarkable movement in
prices, combined with the prospect of its further
development, has inflicted upon our greatest manu-
facturing interest. Each new phase in American
politics is watched with even painful earnestness,
whilst the statistics of consumption and produc-
tion—particularly the production in other parts of
the world than America—are scanned more closely
than ever. Which way speculation tends is shown
not only by tho rise in the price of cotton, but,
with equal force, by the fact that, although
the consumption of the article this year has, up to
the present date, been below that of 1860 by about
2,000 bales per week, speculators have taken out
of the Liverpool market about 400,000 bales more
than last year. When we recollect that the money
value of these 400,000 bales may be put at be-
tween three and four millions sterling—all in
ere.. As of last year's movements—we gain an idea
of the activity and extent of the cotton speculation.
It indicates that, although our cotton authorities
are perhaps as fallible as the rest of us, more par-
ticularly as all their calculations are dependent
upon the course of politics, the opinion of the
best, soundest, and most practical persons in this
country points to a very disturbed state of the
cotton trade in the future. " Hitherto," observes
an eminent Manchester authority," the consumers
" of cotton in this district have relied too much
" upon the chances which might turn up in their
" favour before the stocks on hand were con-
" seined, and have not asked themselves se-
" rioosly what would have to be done should war
" be prolonged in America, and the raw ma-
" terial not only withheld for the present,
" but foe some time to come." " We consider
"this question," it is further observed, " a most
" vital one to the welfare, not only of this particu-
" tar district, hut of the country at large. Cotton
" is as indispensable as corn." The conclusion at
which the most sagacious persons in the manufac-
turing districts have arrived ia ono which must
claim the attention of every one of us, and which
has an important influence upon the profits of the
country—it is, simply, that the sooner • general
reduction in the consumption of cotton takes place
the better it will be, under present circumstances,
for that great trade itself, and for the country at
large. Amid the distress and privation which an
enforced slackening of our cotton industry must
necessarily occasion, our consolation must be that
this is the most effectual means of tiding over the
impending crisis. What is wanted at the moment
is not cotton itself, for we have enough to
go on with, but an insurance respecting
the future supply, in default of which the
market value is rising to • point my embarrass.
leg to the spinner and manufacturer. Were it
possible for us to create cotton—to approach
India or other producers with our millions in our
hands and say, " We shall want a couple of mil-
" lions of bales this coming season ; take the order
" for them, and here is the money"—our indus-
trial 'machinery might go on as before. But the
simple fact is, that the article is not to be had
from new sources within the time. It is not a
question of money ; the commodity does not exist in
any quantity except in America, and cannot becalled
into existence as swiftly as we require it. There
is, therefore, no alternative but to consume lees,
and to husband our stock as much as possible, in
order to eke it out. The misfortune is that this
process means " abaft time," idle looms, closed
mills, and a distressed population. Short time is
already being adopted to some extent in the manu-
facturing districts. Its more general adoption
will be promoted by the difficult position in which
spinners and manufacturers already find them-
selves placed. The rise in the price of the manu-
factured article always lags behind the rise in the
raw material, thus diminishing the margin of profit
for which they carry on business. Even if good
long orders, extending over • considerable period,
are offered to them, they are dubious of accepting
them, being fearful of the course of the market
for the raw material in the interval. If they de-
cide to supply themselves with cotton hereafter,
the price may rise to a point at which the con-
tract may leave them an enormous loss. On the
other hand, if they possess ample capital, and
prefer to buy now, they do so at great peril; for the
present tango of prices being based, not on trading
but on political considerations, the cotton market

might, perchance, break away downwards, and
leave them the holders of a stock purchased at
very high prices. Even, therefore, in cases where
the employer has the chance of getting orders
which would help to keep his people in work for a
long time to come, he dare not accept them.
The computed stock of cotton at Liverpool on
last Friday evening was 989,070 bales, against
1,203,320 at the same period of last year, when
the quantity was unusually large. As regards the
American qualities the stock is equal to about 20
weeks' consumption at the rate lately witnessed ;
at this time last year it was equal to 28 weeks'
consumption. There then remains the important
difference, as determining the market price,
that last year there was every prospect of the
American supply coming forward as usual,
whereas now that supply is ordered to be stopped.
Another point to be weighed is that the draught
upon our stock for exportation will probably be
larger this year than usual, as continental, and,
perhaps, even American consumers will fall upon
our market. This renders it the more requisite
that we should diminish our own consumption.
As the home " trade" have of late possessed them-
'elves of a considerable supply by buying at
Liverpool, it is computed that the stock which they
hold is of about the same amount as last year.
There remain for consideration the anxious ques-
tions, never absent from the mindof the cotton specu-
lator—Will any portion of the American supply
come leeward, and if so, what portion ? Will the
blockade be maintained in a way to secure its con-
tinued recognition by England, France, and other
states? Assuming that this point is resolved in
the affirmative, what quantity of cotton will run
the gauntlet of the blockading squadron? Given,
a scarcity of the article, and a high price, at Liver-
pool and Manchester, at Havre and Mulhouse, to-
gether with an abundant supply in the Confede-
rate States ; and what will be the result ? These
are a chum of questions the solution of which
rests with the future.

THE BISHOP OF SALISBURY ON MOON-