The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-24 00:00:00

THE FRENCH PRESS ON BRITISH

COAIMEIZ CE-.
The Debats has the following notice of some of
the information contained in the documents recently
the pu,b,lEisvheerdytbhyingthtehßatocaardn otfhTrorwadeaniyn.lEiguhgtlaonn d :
ques-
tion of the results to the English marine of the repeal of
the Navigation Act is of the highest interest. The
oatahlel
question is that of a great strnggle,.bOldly and fairly
carried on by the English nation, against
nations, against maritime construeunabtrhoe ad: ships
and the
economical consequences, whether
advan-
tageous which such an enterprise may
disasternoutasilobrothforEoglish,commertib and for the future fate of the compet-
tog flags, are of such importance that the facts which
much attention. The last publication of the Board of
may enlighten the subject cannot be followed with too
Trade makes us acquainted with the state of things. It
is very remarkable that the first effects of the reform, or
et least the results whiCh wore considered as such, ap-
peared to give support to the violent criticisms of the
Protectionists. In 1850, the first year of the repeal,
the part taken by the English flag in the
general amount of navigation had lowered, not very
considerably, it is true, but it had decreased about
113,000 tons. On the other hand, the part of the
foreign flag materially increased, say something about
640,000 tons. In 1851 facts changed in a certain
degree; the English flag regained 500,000 tons, an
increase to which it had up to that time been a stranger,
eat, on its side, the foreign shipping obtained a surplus
cf one million tons, and thus carried off the palm in
this maritime struggle to which England had invited
The tables of the Board of Trade show that this enor-
mous increase has borne entirely on the shipping of the
countries of the Baltic, which are, with the United
States, the granaries of Great Britain. As to our flag,
it is sad to any, it took no part in i'. So much for the
two years which immediately followed tjae repeal; we
will row come to more recent facts. On the Ist of Ja-
nusry last, that is to say during the first six months of
1852, 'the maritime commerce of England employed
5,993,499 tons; cut of this amount, which is nearly
equally divided between sailings and arrivals, foreign
vessels stand for 2,043,705 tons, and British for 3,950,734
tons. The superiority of the British flag is therefore
seen to be 66 per cent., while the foreign is only 34 per
cent. of tho total amount; but it will be seen that these
proportions already differ from what they were before
the tepee!. Lot es take 1848, the year before then
two years; the English marine then reckoned (for the
ahole year) 7,V4,000 tons against 3,056,000 foreign,
being 71 per cen'. for the former, and 29 for the
latter. But it will be, perhaps, objected that
1848 is an exceptional year; we will, therefore,
go bask two years more. In 1846. the English flag
reckoned 6,714 000 tons, and foreign 2,786,000. There
again we find the Name proportions of 71 per cent. for
the one, and 29 per cent. for the other. Relatively the
nest taken by the English flag has weakened a little
before its foreign competitors; but, in fact, its effective
movement, has not ceased to increase, and even in a
cegree greater than in the past. What is also remark-
:sale is, that during the first half-year of 1852 the com-
parison is definitively to its advantage. We have said
that foreign shipping had employed 2,042,765 tons;
therefore, during the corresponding period of 1851 it
had only 2,276,508, being 233, 743 less. The English
fl on the contrary, which in the first six months of
1851 had 3,808,603 tons, obtained in the corresponding
period of this year 3,950,734, an increase of 142,131
tons. What conclusions ere to be drawn from these es.
eihations? Nothing very precise just at present as to
the question of the new regime in itself, except that the
British navigation, shaken for a moment by the power-
ful (shock of repeal, appears to be pleparieg to recover
all its ancient superiority in the face of foreign compe-
tition. Under any circumstances, what must be
admitted is, that the maritime traffio of Great
Britain, which, in 1846, only went up to
9,500,000 tons, reached, in 1851, to 13,500,000,
or in other words, increased 50 per cent. in five years.
What, therefore, is such an increase for a country if it
be not a new and fruitful source of industrial and ma-
retinae activity and of commercial prosperity? What
Lasater:l it, at the bottom, if the foreign flag figures in
the general movement for a rather more considerable
part, if national activity and riches increase in a still
greater proportion; and is it not, besides, the logical and
natural consequence of the lowering of the tariffs, and
of the adoption of the regime of free trade, which has
opened the ports of Great Britain to foreign shipping?
That could not fail to attract a groat number of foreign
vowels to them • and, on its side, British shipping finds
in the ports of the countries which have exchanged with
her the treatment of reciprocity advantages which per-
haps more than compensate for the relative loss which
they meet with in their own parts. All this does not
necessarily say that we ought at present, and without
very serious deliberation, to follow England in this
path; but it siguifies, we think, that the commercial
Policy of that country has been always conducted with
an admirable knowledge of the national interests."

EAT IYZAZZIEETS.
SM/TEIFIELD. Old Meadow flay, 3/ 5s to 4/ 41;
NOW ditto, 21 15s to 31 158; Old Clover, 41 8s to
E
515 a; New ditto, 31123 to 41103; and Straw, 1183 toll 12s
per load. A fair average supply, and a dull trade.
CUMBRLAND.
New ditto, 2/ los to 15s; Clover,
—Old Meadow flay, 31 83 to 41 55;
5/ Os; New ditto, 3/ 103 to3l 41 10s; aOld nd Straw, 11 9s to
11 138 per load. Trade rather dull, at late rates.
WHITECHAPP.L.-01d Meadow liay, 3/ 5s to 41 4a;
New ditto, 21 159 to 3/ 153; Old Clover, 415 s to 51 58;
New. ditto, 31 10a to 41 108; and Straw, 11 7s to 1112 s
Q
load. Supply moderate, and trade rather dull.
--___,.._

.NEW HOPS. COROUGEt HOP-MAR ET.--The first
pocket of hops of this year's produce reached market to-
day horn the plantat,ons of Mr. W. lierharn, East Peckham,
Kent, and was sold to Messrs Kitchia and Ashworth, hop-
merchants, Leeds, for 81.8 a• per cwt.
hc rney, killing 17 fish in two
one gentleman, Captain Martinus Bowie, killed
200 tdhalysz.Liraei
season,
at•lii-ilch L. miner.

the Thames, and were
-clitaotsses, cr3na°gugrpegate tonnage of which
ARRIVAL OF :.346 SAIL or MERCHANT-MIPS.
Yesterday and on Sunday a
of 61,500 tons. Of this vast number,
fleet of merchant-ships, num-
and colonial ports, 125 were colliers,
amounted
9rt
oei nuwr
egnedtr3eae
d4t
from
ohos
meaui
cpl ,
aw of
aft
ro aaml
foreignsl
and 42 employed in the coasting trade, and from Ireland and
the Channel Islands. By far the greatest proportion of the
•
foreign arrivals are from Russian and Prussian ports, there.
being no fewer than 64.
PonTsxouTE, Ava. 23.—Wind N.N.E.—S!d. Acadia,
Quebec.
PLymouTri,:Auo- 23.—Wind variable. s
--Id. :Eliza,
Port Philip.
Bi/IBT°l4.‘--Sid. Sir Henry Pottingert Quebec.