The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-02-27 00:00:00

offered to you may he easily ascertained. There are about ten
principal houses in London, scarcely so many, which possess among
them nearly the whole import trade in silk, except the Asiatic.
Those houses will report to you how the importktions are conducted,
and whether it was the spirit of English speculation which attracted
to our ports those unusual supplies of stork during the last year.
They will inform you that the quiet repositories of the London
Docks, or the importers* own warehouses, held this foreign pro-
perty. with little or no influence of excitement upon the proper cir.
culation of the English market.
" As to the manufactured stack, I refer you to the manufac-
turers' warehouses and to the shops of mercers to disprove the
charge of an excessive accumulation. The country manufacturers
all hold diminished stocks. A few. only a few houses in London,
hold anything like a lull stock; and the principal mercers gismos.
tinue their purchases, or greatly contract them, not because their
shops are overloaded, nor because they have no sales for the relics
of the English manufacture, but because they are looking to the
importation of foreign goods as the object of their future traffic.
You- position, therefore, respecting an enormous accumuls.
tiun, I presume to consider as untenable in every point of view ;
and the inference which you have wished to enforce, in referring
the calamitous condition of the silk trade to the imprudence and
cupidity of those who have been engaged in it, must give way.
(It one imprudence those persons certainly have been guilty; that
was in calculating upon • continuance of the prosperous state of
things which they had begun to enjoy.
" Sir, this now rapidly declining trade was lately a flourishing
one. It had been expanding the last four yews. Its prosperity
arose out of the internal resources of the country, accompanied
by a decided increase in the public (sate for the use of that article.
which is the produce of the Silk manufacture. All parts of this
trade were thriving. By means of it an innocent luxury
productive
ren-
dered the source of a productive industry, which replenished and
augmented the pubic and private wealth out of which it grew. It
fed its thorsunnis. It is tune scorn; ifs thonsonds. h/tdiy of the
principals engaged in it are daring thearbusiacss.some from !widener,
others from compulsion. The workmen and theirfiwnliies are pin.
ins with hipline, and charity is forced to furnish a miserable sub-
alatence, inadequate to the wants of nature, to those whom their In.
dustry lately maintained in competence end in health. In many
cams this household furniture of thew destitute workmen, their
clothing, their looms. are pawned for the ammo( the passing hour,
Indeed. Sir, in the sad history of this scene of accumulated priva-
tion and affliction, I could describe to you particular instances of
an agonizing misery, which In the recital would put your humanity
to too severe a trial. "
I ofFi.r no apology for the length of the above quotation.
The valuable information that may be extracted front it,
makes me fearful lest I should weaken its effect by any
further observations of my own. I shall therefore bring
them to a close.

AN ENGLISH MERCHANT.

STAI'E OF TRADE.

We are sorry that it is still out of our power to commu-
nicate any intelligence of an amendment in the state of
trade. There has never, we believe, been a day in which
a more gloomy feeling existed, or prices, whether of yarns
or manufactured goods, were more depressed than on '
Tuesday last, nor has there since been any :thermion for
the better. The influence of heavy storks on one hand,
and of the breaking up of credit on the other, is so power-
ful that low as the prices of raw cotton are, those of yarns
and goods are reduced in a still greater proportion ; and
much as production has been diminished, the effect of
the change does not yet begin to be felt. There is neither
a lessening of stocks, nor an increase in demand.
Notwithstanding this state of things, there have not this
week, we rejoice to say, been any failures of very serious
consequence in this town 'or its immediate neighbourhood.
One foreign house suspended its payments in consequence
of the suspension of Messrs. B. A. Goltlschmidt and Co.
Several minor stoppages have taken place amongst country
spinners, &c.: most persons, indeed, of that class, who
have been accustomed to depend at all extensively on credit
are now exposed to considerable inconvenience, notwith-
standing they may in reality be persons of solid property.
What is to be the issue of the present state of things,l
whether " worse remains behind" or the crisis of danger
has past, it is difficult to collect any data upon which to
found an opinion. But thus much be said ;we are rapidly
approaching, indeed we are on the immediate verge of, a
season when trade is usually brisk, and the present will
surely not form so entire an exception to the general rule,
that the bustle of the spring demand will be wholly want-
ing; and if not, it will to a certain extent, tend both to
relieve the existing pressure, and to restore confidence. We
are told too, that there are large orders for twist now in
town, but the persons who have them dare not, at present,
value on the London houses through whom they are di-
rected to reimburse themselves.—Manchester Guardian.
Dt.ss.ssT sox Or SEAMEN.—A meeting of shipowners,
merchants, and others interested in the trade to the colonies
took place yesterday afternoon, to take into consideration
the defective state of the law for preventing the desertion
of the crews from merchants' ships abroad, and the proper
measures •to be taken for its amendment. John Barber,
Esq. was called to the chair, and the business of the day
was opened by Mr. Radcliffe, who stated at considerable
length the circumstances which had induced several
gentlemen, exrensively collected with the British North
American Colonial trade, to call the meeting. He
particularly commented upon the glaring defect in the
statute 2d of George fI. cap. 36, by which, it appeared,
desertion, during the progress of the voyage, could
not be punished by imprisonment after the termination
of the voyage, the clause in the Act applying only to
the case of a sailor absenting himself from the ship after
signing the articles, and upon his apprehension refusing
before the magistrate to proceed on the voyage.' The Act
of the 37th Geo. 111, cap. 73, was confined to the West
Indian Colonies, and that, even if extended, would not
remedy the evil complained of in our ship-building colo-
nies. The latest Act upon the subject, 4th Geo. IV, cap.
25, was completely evaded by the deserter obtaining
from the master of the ship in which he engaged after
deserting from another payment of wages in advance, so
that he had no wages to forfeit, and there was nothing
upon which the Act could operate. A New Brunswick
Paper of the Silk of January last was exhibited, which
published a list, setting forth the names and tonnage of
vessels built in the province of St. John's, during the year
1825, from which it appeared that 102 vessels had been
launched, if different sizes, but averaging 300 tons each;
and it was stated by a gentleman present, that he had very
good Information which warranted him in asserting that
the number of seamen which arrived our to man them, did
not exceed what would be requisite for managing more
than one-tenth of that quantity of shipping. After consi-
derable discussion on various suggestions that were thrown
out, an outline of the principal amendments to be proposed
in the law on this subject was agreed upon, and a com-
mittee appointed to prepare the necessary arrangements for
effecting such amendments, and to report thereon to a ge-
neral meeting,—Liverpool Commercial Chronicle.