The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-10 00:00:00

AUSTRALIAN COMMERCE.

The recent arrival of the Montmorency from
Melbourne has placed us in possession of some
statistical information respecting the trade and
commerce of the Australian colonies. According
to the returns now before us, it appears that the
aggregate amount of shipments from this country
during 1856 far exceeded those of 1855. The total
amount is put down at 9,057,9131, being nearly one
half more than that of the previous year, and were
as follows :—to Melbourne and Geelong, 5,076,8801;
to Portland Bay, 63.2781; to Sydney, 2,520,2491; to
Moreton Bay, 27,2991; to Adelaide, 756,2761; an 1
to Hobart Town and Launceston, 613,931/.
The shipments of December were much the
same as in October and November, the total
amount of the month being .2847,300. To
Melbourne there was an increase to the amount
of .R 73,061, a decrease of £70,255 to Sydney, an
increase of £12,225, to 'Adelaide, and a decrease
of £22,010; to Van Diemen's Land. The ship
ments of wines, beer, and spirits have been very
heavy, and consisted of 806,275 gallons of brandy,
343,243 gallons of rum, 143,467 gallons of gin,
and 684,370 gallons of British spirits; 623 gallons
perfumed spirits, 453,774 gallons red wines,
121,148 gallons white wine, r,B 021 barrels of beer,
in bulk, and 34,025 barrels of beer in glass, to Mel-
bourne, whilst to Sydney, and other Australian
ports. they have been equally heavy. To Melbourne
and Geelong there were shipped 61,061 cwts of
butter, 30,756 cwt. of candles, whilst t ) Sydney, of
the former, the exports were only 5,548 cwt., and
11,107 cwt of the latter. The exports of hardware
and metals has been large to Melbourne and
Geelong. The value of the firearms is put down
at 3,0141. To Sydney they were valued at 3,924/.
Cottons, and other manufactured goods have been
sent to all the Australian colonies to a large extent,
so that stocks must have accumulated to some
extent The value of the wearing apparel to Mel•
bourne and Geelong is 425,576/; 248,2051 to Sydney ;
3,5031 to Moreton Bay ; 62,843/ to Adelaide ; and
85,517/ to Van Dieman's Land ; making a
grand total of 825.284/ 20,669. cwt. of paper has
been sent out, and the value of- the stationery
is estimated at £31,243 to Melbourne, &c., whilst
to Sydney it was 8,513 cwt of paper and stationery
valued at £12,967. The shipments of coal to
all the colonies, amounts to 17,816 tons ; and
the exports of provisions are estimated at
£80,539. Of cheese, large quantities have been
sent to Melbourne, and also bacon, hams, and cured
fish. The total number of emigrants which sailed
from Liverpool, during the month of December,
was 2,481.
The returns from the gold fields, are reported
to be very satisfactory. It appears that as
coin and bank notes are transmitted by the
return escorts to the gold fields free of
charge, the result of this regulation has been
to give an advantage of is to Is 61 per ounce to
capitalists purchasing at the gold fields, of which
6d to is is due to the remission of the fee, and 6d
to the premium charged to the sellers for bills on
Melbourne. The produce of the export duty on
gold from Ist May to 31st July have been £70,076
17s, the whole of which have been collected at
Melbourne. Contrary to general expectation the
imposition of the export duty did not interfere
with gold as an article of commerce, for according
to latest advices, we find that temporary depression
both at Melbourne and the gold fields consequent
upon the discussion and passing of the act the
price steadily recovered' itself and at the end
of three months was higher at Ballarat
than it has been three months previous to the
passing of the act. The amount of gold exported
from Sydney, for the quarter ending 30th S ,ptem-
ber, 1856, was 27,864 ounces, valued at 90,5591,
and for the next quarter, ending December 30,
1855, 3,013 ounces, valued at 9,7921. The amount
exported from Melbourne, in the first period, was
745,456 ounces, valued at 2,982,1861, and for the
latter quarter, 760,010 ounces, valued at 3,038,6301.
The total amount exported since the first discovery
of the gold fields to the 30th of December, 1855,
from both colonies, had been no less than
11,198,667 ounces, valued at 40 995,6501. By
an official statement; we observe that the
estimated population of the various gold fields
of Victoria on the 22nd of December, 1855,
was 146,042 persons, of whom 19,244 were Chinese,
and the remainder consisted of 90,421 men, 14,473
females, and 21,634 children.
During the period under consideration, we have
received from the Australian colonies 160,148 bales
of wool, the value of which is estimated at
4,500,0001; also, 5,700 casks of tallow, said to be
worth 190,0001; making together 4,690,0001, exclu-
sive of our receipts of copper and other articles.
According to the statistics of the several colonies,
the total value of the exports, gold included, for the
six months ending December, 1855, was nearly
17,000,000/ sterling. During 1855 we exported to
all these colonies manufactured goods amounting
to 5,917,414/, to which must be added an estimated
value of spirits, wines, tobacco, and other goods
in bond and transit, and from what we learn of
the average value of these bonded goods, we may
add to the foregoing sum 600,000/, which makes a
gross, total of 6,517,4141, showing the colonial
exports to this country to be in proportion
of 16 to 6 above what they receive from
us. Taking all these facts and figures into
consideration, we have every reason to be satisfied
with the commercial progress of all the
colonies. From the returns of their imports from
the northern country, not only as regards the
common necessaries of life, but articles of luxury,
it is evident that Victoria, in particular, is
progressing rapidly, and that labour is in good
demand, and well remunerated. Judging from the
number of ships on berth for Australia, there
seems to be every reason to expect an activ