Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-10 00:00:00

TROE OF, SWEDEN

'Major Pringle's report on the trade of -Stockholm in
1856 supplies the following information : —The crops
were • generally below an average in eighteen counties,
and in farms of the northern districts the crops were
almost a total failure. Great distress existed among
the poorer classes in the north, and they were reduced in
many cases to grind the bark of pines and mix it with a
small quantity of rye flour, as a s ibstitute for bread.
*ln 1856, 10,616,434 kanna of brandy (a kanna being
equal to nearly 31 English quarts) were distilled,
value 3,538,811 rix, dollars banco, or £294,000. The
'produce of eighteen cotton mills in different 'parts of
Sweden is given for 1856 at 12;401,7211b. of cotton yarn.
Within a few years cotton has in a great measure
superseded the use of linen, as being so ranch
cheaper and warmer. Coals are now imported in
large quantities from England, but, from the peculiar
construction of the stoves used for heating "the
rooms, it is impossible to use them in private houses.
The price of coal is from 18s to 26s per ton; the quantity
imported in 1855 rose to 860,290 tons (Swedish) from
178,549 tons in 1845. The war with Russia in 1854 and
1855 was very profitable to the Stockholm merchants
trading in the Gulf of Bothnia, and, in the
hope that the war would continue, they gave very
extensive orders for goods for 1856. The result of
peace was that much of the gains of the two previous
years was
,swallowed,up in the failure of the speculation
for 1856. The whole import and export trade of Sweden
20 years ago was not more than 34,147,000 banco
or 2,80.583/. ; in 1845 it had risen •to -45,650,000
banco; and in 1855 exceeded 120,000,000 banco (about
10,000,0000, being double what it was in the year 1852.
In 1855 the value of the 'exports exceeded that of
the imports by 611,416/. The value of grain ex-
ported in the _year_ AB5l was 8,000,000 banco, or
666,666/., while in 1855 it was nearly 18,000,000
banbo, or 1,600,000/. Tan has largely increased as an
item of the exports, while the exportation of pitch, bones,
bar iron, coffee, and steel has fallen off. 4,536,2821 b. of
white cotton yarns were imported" from Great Britain in
1855, a large increase owing to the lowering of the duty
from 4s to 3s per lb. A great importation of raw sugar
has also taken place (from England) since the lowering of
duties in 1853. The importation of machinery and coals
from England continues to increase. The trade and
general prosperity of Sweden have greatly increased dur-
ing the last four years, partly owing to the advance made
in agridulture, and the impulse given to the carrying
trade by the beneficial change in our navigation laws.

THE MAHOGANY TRADE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TILES

Sir,—My attention having been palled to a
report of the proceedings of the MerSey Dock and
Harbour Board, at their inaugural meeting,
yesterday, I noticed that two of the members of
the board, namely, Mr. Farnworth and Mr.
Smith, both gentlemen connected with the timber
trade, quite ignore the fact stated in my letter to
you, as also those advanced by Mr. Chaloner in
his letter to the board. Mr. Farnworth observes
that my letter and Mr. Chaloner's are calculated
to lead the public astray on the subject; but I beg
to inform the public, through your columns, that
it is Mr. Farnworth who desires to lead the board
astray.

Since my last letter to you, the Esther, the vessel
alluded to therein, has arrived from Honduras, and
been ordered to London, owing to the fact of there
being already three vessels_ waiting
_to discharge
their cargoes, which ordinary facilities would have
enabled the broker to dispose of, and thus have
left a bare market for the Esther's cargo. • Facts
of this-kind must prove to the more intelligent and
disinterested members of the board how much
reliance is to be placed on the sweeping assertions
of Mr. Farnworth, who, though he professes so
much knowledge of the subject, has had, I
am informed, no practical experience of the
mahogany trade as a broker. Recent
monetary derangements in London should be
a means - of. diverting a large increase of this
branch of trade to Liverpool ; but if the Mersey
Docks and Harbour Board, at the instance of
Messrs. Farnworth and Smith, not only withhold
every reasonable facility for the development of
the trade, and will not see that the present mode
of working the timber docks obstructs rather than
forwards business—then it is quite certain that,
whenever it is possible, importers will prefer Hull
or London, as practically illustrated in the case of
the Esther, in whose cargo I happen to be inter-
ested. In conclusion and in• support of my
statements, I beg to enclose for your satis-
faction an extract from the catalogue of Mr.
Edward Chaloner :-=" Whilst I am but to-day able
to fix the opening of the next periodical auction
sales, I may yet observe that, had it not been for
the state of things above referred to, the several
cargoes herein catalogued would, ere this, have
partially entered into consumption, and their place
being taken by fresher imports, amongst which is
the cargo per Esther, from Honduras, and two
cargoes of -Spanish mahogany, all ordered to
London—these last so ordered by a Live'rpool
resident importer."—l am, sir, your obedient
servant, CHARLES VIDAL.

Adolph Hotel, January 7, 1859