Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-01-02 00:00:00

GENERAL PRODUCE.

In their annual circular of this day Messrs: Browne,
Hunter, and Co. say,:—The year which has just closed
has been one of great anxiety to all engaged in mercan-
tile pursuits. The uncertainty of the position of
Europe at the termination of the, war of 'France and
Sardinia against Austria had a most depressing influence
on the value of all descriptions of .Produce, and mei.-
°chants generally evinced a great desire to effeet'salCs.
The preparations for the defence of this,country appear to
la've had a strong effect upon the whole Continent of Eu-
rope, and it is to be hoped that early in the present year
the Congress which is about to assemble, may speedily
bring matters affectin,g,ltaly to an amicable arrangement.
Preliminary difficulties, however, in the councils of some
of the Powers invited do not encourage that 'expectation
of unanimity in the approaching deliberations of the re-
spective envoys. The state .of trade throughout the country
was never known to be in a more healthy condition than
it is at present. Public opinion is, that should peace be
concluded on a firm basis, a considerable advance in
prices of all articles will be established. • The Board of
Trade returns just published to 30th November show a
great increase in the value of Exports of British alltl
Irish productions, viz., for 'the month of November
£10,858,000, against £9,976,436, and for the eleven
months £119,613,185, against £106,5,55,562 last year.
The stock of the principal articles of produce remaining
in the bonded warehouses in the United Kingdom on
30th November was—Coffee, 25,286,802 lbs. ; Rice,
2,429,925 cwt. ; Sugar, raw, 1,731,783 cwt. ; Tea,
57,021,742 lbs. There has been a steady demand for
money throughout the year without much alteration in
• value, excepting in the month of June, when it was
difficult for a short period to. negotiate paper, and the
bank raised its minimum rate to 41 per cent., soon
afterwards, however, it was reduced to 11, per cent., at
which it remains. The imports of gold and silver
bullion for the eleVen months are—of gold, £21,454,761
againA £20,465;471; silver, £14,073,888, against
£5,860,510. Exports of . gold £16,948,774, against
£10,736;738; silver, £16,912,622, against £6,172,328
in 1858. The bullion in both departments of the Bank
of England by the last returns wa5—£16,810,054 against
£16,935,664;. and its reserve of notes' xp,7Bo,9so£9,7Bo,9So';against £9,640,125 at the same period last year.
In his annual circular dated Saturday, Mr. Abram
Gartside says :—All branches of the Wool Trade have
been fully employed throughout this year, and goods are
now principally made to order. The manufacturers
will commence the-new year with light stocks of fabrics
on hand. A good demand both from home and foreign
markets, and, from all appearance, a continued increase
of consumption may be looked for, which bids fair
to overtake the supplies—they not having in-
creased nil- 'year—and particularly, so if the
accounts are fully corroborated of the great dearth in
Sheep, through drought, in several of the Wool-
growing countries abroad. Since my last 'annual cir-
cular,_ our markets have been characterised with a good,
steady demand, and present quotations show an advance,
in most kinds, on this period last year, of 10. to 15 .per
cent., which seems likely to be maintained, especially
when-the stocks on hand are extremely low. The im-
ports for 1859 are 165,193 bales, against 140,308 bales
in 1858. • • • • _ _ •

Messrs. Greame and Co., in their annual circular,
say :—The past year opened with a steady demand for
most descriptions of Wool, but after the first few weeks,
the unsettled aspect of political affairs on the continent
began to create a want of confidence and great uneasiness
for the future, which materially interfered with business;
the continental demand for Wools as well a 8 for Goods and
Yarns, was entirely suspended, and prices ruled in favour
of buyers; this unsatisfactory state of things continned,
more or less during the first six months of the year,
varying according to the political barometer, as regarded
the Italian question, and our intervention or otherwise,
in the pending struggle, until prices of -all descriptions'
of the raw material became seriously depressed, and
English Wools were quoted at fully. 4d. per pound
below the opening rates of the year. The good sense
of the country prevailed, however, in keeping us clear.
of the quarrel of our continental neighbours, and as
confidence in our "non-intervention " policy increased,
trade began to revive, large orders were given out to our
manufacturers for army clothing for both the French
and Austrian Governments, and. prices commenced to
show a decided upward tendency; this improved feeling
continued with slight intermission until towards.
Autumn when the happy termination of the war on the.
continent, combined with cheap money and the favour"-
able prospect of an early and abundant harvest in this
country, gave a further impetus to business, and the
trade has since.been, charagterised by great activity, at
gradually improving prices.
Messrs. Hughes and Ronald, in their annual report,
say,—lt is our pleasing task to be able to report favour-
' ably of the Wool Trade generally throughout the past
year. The great falling off in the exports of manu-
factures during the panic, created, no doubt, a vacuum
that required filling up, but when we find the increase
to have been such as even to exceed the hitherto largest
shipments of 1807, we very naturally ask whether any
new markets have been ripened to us, or is this solely to
be attributed to a greater development of ex-
isting channels arising from the fact that a more
extended commerce, as a matter of course, brings
about a larger demand for our productions in
return. We rather incline to the latter view,
and since a brisk export trade always materially con-
tributes to the full and steady employment of our home
population, who in their turn become not only larger
consumers of all the necessaries of life, but even of the
so-called luxuries, we may thus account for the very
large home demand for all kinds of' woollen goods that
has prevailed during the year. With regard to the rafv
material, we .alluded in our last annual circular to thee
unprecedented panic as having necessarily limited
the consumption, but that even under these
circumstances, stocks were not found much in
excess of the demand, and we expressed the opinion that
with the return of prosperity prices would in the ordinary
course of events not only be well maintained, but even
enhanced ; but this would, no doubt, have been the case,
had not political affairs on the Continent taken such an
unlocked for turn in the early part of the Tear, inducing
all to act with extreme caution, and deterring foreigners

THE DAY'S NEWS.

Still nothing but rumours relatinc, to the Con-
gress, and these of a most unreliable character.
Of this fact, however, there is no doubt, that an
active exchange of despatches is going on between
the Cabinets of Paris, Vienna, and Rome, which
is all very natural under existing circumstances.
But we are now assured that what has been re;
cently said as to the refusal of the Court of Rome
to• participate in the Congress is utterly false ;
neither is it now believed that Russia has ex-
pressed any opposition to the policy set forth in
the pamphlet respecting the Popedom. The
farther delay of the meeting of Congress for a
few days, hos arisen, it is understood, from the
necessity of some further explanations as to the
course to be pursued. But there is no doubt en-
tertained in well informed circles, that whatever
difficulties may still remain, it will be quite pos-
sible to smooth them down.

The Spaniards continue to carry on the war in
Morocco with signal success,—if we are to believe
their own despatches. On Thursday they burned
and blew up the forts at the mouth of
.the river
Tetuan, and were vigorously pushing on their
military operations at. that point. Some olthe
tribes are already beginning to withdraw to their
mountains in despair. Another squadron has
sailed from Algesiras, intended, it is believed,-to
to support Marshal O'Donnell in his operations
ao•ainst Tetuan.
Among other symptoms of a better internal
policy on the part of Austria, we may refer to the
regulations lately issued for relaxing the restric-
tions imposed on traders and artisans by the guild
and corporations' laws and customs. The ap-
pointment of a commission for the management
of the national debt, is another sign of improve-
ment in the affairs of the Empire.
It is rumoured that the office of President of
the Board of Works, vacant by the death of Mr.
Fitzroy, is to be given to Sir John Ramsden.
Should this be the case, there must of necessity
be a re-election for the West Riding of Yorkshire ;
and it is more than probable, that the. Conserva-
tives will again contest the, seat.
We have already recorded 'the death of
Lord Macaulay. It has been remarked as
very significant of the comparative retirement
in which so distinguished a man had lately
lived that, although he died at Kensington on
Wednesday evening, no tidings of his death
reached any of the London papers until the
following night, and that then the information
was received through a provincial paper, whose
London `correspondent had transmitted it the
night before. It has been suggested that West-
minster Abbey is the proper resting place for the
deceased historian and statesman ; and it is more
than probable that he will be buried there, with
the honours due to one whose' name and fame
will doubtless go down to `the latest posterity.
The coroner's inquiry- into the Aldershot affair
has resulted in a verdict to the effect that the de-
ceased militiaman was killed by some 'persons of
the 24th Regiment, but by whom there was not
sufficient evidence to show ; and that the Tower
Hamlets .Militia were exonerated, as it did not
appear that any shot was fired by them. The
24th, as we stated on Saturday, was immediately
ordered to Cork, and has, by this time, in all
probability, reached that destination.
We give the revenue tables for the year and
quarter ending on Saturday, in another page ;
and having elsewhere alluded to the satisfactory
results they present, we need do no more than
refer to them here.

In another column we publish a synopsis of
the emigration traffic of Liverpool for the year
just closed, from which it will be seen that there
has been a considerable falling off in the general
business during the year. Notwithstanding this,
however, it is gratifying to find that so large a
portion of that very interesting and important
trade .continues to flow towards Liver Pool.• This
is as it should be. Our ships are unchallengeably
among the largest and fastest in the world. They
are generally admirably found, as well as skilfully
navigated.
The arrival of British and North American
royal mail steamship Persia puts us in possession
of intelligence from New York to the twenty-
first of last month. lip to the latest date, the
House of Representatives had not been organised
by the election of a Speaker, and consequently
the President's Message had not been delivered.
The slave question occupies very general atten-
tion, and great excitement respecting it prevails
on all hands. The Harper's Ferry outbreak
forms also a prominent topic of discussion, both
in the legislature and in general society.