The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-06 00:00:00

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;liBnsl2Br4e2acthheedy
( From, the Economist. )
47,000,0001. ; and in 1832 they were 36,000,000/. In -
the 20 years, therefore, they have more than doubled,
were only
r
In the first six months of the present year our exports
a mTphl eedvalue amounto f oofuB ,eoxopoo,rotol3o/ in.
are nearly 10,000,000/, in advance of 1852, and it is
therefore a very moderate calculation to assume that
the exports for 1853 will reach at least the remarkable
, amount of 93,000,000/. Our imports have also been--
large, but it can scarcely be said in the same proportion,
taking commodities only, and leaving bullion out of the
'calculation, the stocks of most articles being consider-
ably reduced. So far as commerce is concerned, it is
difficult, therefore, at first sight, in the face of these
facts, to suppose that the balance of trade is against us,
so as to lead to the unfavourable state of the foreign
exchanges which now ex;st. It is true there has been
a large importation of foreign grain ; but, on the other
hand, there has been of late a very extensive re-export
both of wheat and flour, and especially to France ; so
much so, that many of the direct steam-vessels have re-
cently been entirely laden therewith. There is, there-
fore, apparently nothing connected with the corn trade
to account for the present state of the exchanges.
In connection, however, with our general commerce,
there is a consideration which at this particular moment
may materially affect the exchanges, although there may
not in the long run be a balance against us. It is ob-
vious that the exchanges must be affected only by the
actual amount of payments to be made at the time, in
whatever way those payments arise, and not by the
value of exports and imports, except so far as it affects
the amount of payments to be made. Remittances to
France for the purpose of buying railway stock, or for
the payment of railway calls, have as much an effect on
the 'exchanges as for the payment of a balance of im-
ports. ts Remittances to England during periods of Con-
tinental discredit for investment in our funds have as
much the effect of making the exchange favourable to
us for the time 'being as if remitted for a balance of
British goods exported. Whatever, in fact, affects the
amount to be transmitted from one country to another,
whether representing the payment for produce, or capital
to be loaned or invested, equally affects the exchanges
at the time. It is the state of the mutual payments to
be made or received, and not the state ()Übe exports
and imports, except as they affect the former, that de-
termines the state of the exchanges.
In connection with this consideration there is a fact
peculiar to the trade of England which it is all-important
-to bear in mind, and which 'nay be of some aid to us at
the present moment in accounting for. tbe adverse state
of our foreign exchanges. It is this. By the ordinary
course of trade England gives credit to all the world,
and takes none ; on the contrary, in place of taking
credit upon the produce imported, the capital of England
i ietitse given
i va e
nremarkable
upon
our influence p
is employed frequently not only in rearing the pro Puce,
but almost always in keeping it, even on foreign ac-
count, till required for consumption. This is an interest-
ing and important fact in connection with our trade, and,
x ctl ; upon
a n thenas we shall show, may exercise at the moment least ex-
pected
the facts ? First take our exports. Take the markets
of our entire colonies—take the
markets of India, of the
ha orptsia
. I
United States, of South America—in all, a lengthened cre-
(the goods necessary for their supply are held on consign-
ment and with Britise
ady:ev
oxefcnh theseawhenm.
sold
heat
ats
n I
long credit is given, and the proceeds not finally remitted
to England till the expiration of that credit. Take as
an example a transaction in Brazil or in India. A cargo
of Manchester goods is consigned to Rio de Janeiro.
The agent receiving it supplies the market from his store
as the goods are required. It may be six, it may be,
and more frequently is, twelve months before a closed
account of sales can be furnished. But the goods are
sold at a credit of four, six, or nine months, and it may
therefore be from 12 months to two years before the
fun 4 are all in hand and ready to remit. Of course
remittances on account are made at earlier periods for a
pa t,' but 12 to 18 months would be a fair average. Well,
the funds are in hand, and if bills arc abundant, and can
be had on good terms, the rest of the operation is quick
enough ; but as it more frequently happens, the funds
have to be invested in a cargo of coffee or other pro-
duce. This done, the next question is—Where is the
best market ? The vessel sails from Rio with instruc-
tions to call at Cowes for orders. The owner in Man-
chester, upon inquiry, finds that his cargo will be best
disposed of in Hamburg. The vessel is ordered on, the
coffee sold within a reasonable time, and finally the
funds remitted to Manchester in bills drawn, perhaps,
upon some Yorkshire firm for German wools, shipped
by the same steam vessel that brings the remittance.
During the whole of this time the capital which had
been 'expended in cotton, in labour, in artistic style, in.
dyeing, &c., some months before the shipment was ac-
tually made from England, has been employed abroad,
virtually in conducting the commerce of foreign coun-
tries: Less or more, the whole of our foreign export
trade is of this character ; that with the Continent least
so, Nor is this fact in any way altered because manu-
facturers who make these consignments themselves re-
ceive advances upon them, sometimes even from the
first day of the shipment. If they do so it is always
from 'British merchants, and in any case it is British
capital that is throughout represented in the transac-
tion.

r r,R,cE SD.

be an end to the possibility of negotiating our securi-
ties. This was indeed a time of prosperity, he might
say perhaps of unexampled prosperity, but it was a time,
of all others, when they should act with caution. A great
number of schemes were being brought before the public,
some good and some bad, but it was not desirable to push
them forward at such a rate as their promoters seemed now
anxious to do, which was sure to create a distrust in the
minds of moneyed men. He hoped the advice of the dis-
tinguished guest of the evening would sink deep into tho
minds of those who heard him, and that all would endea-
vour to push forward the railway system upon a sound
basis, without rashly encouraging competing lines, to the '
great disadvantage of their best interests.
In conclusion, he begged leave to propose the health of
the city of Montreal, and to couple with the toast the
name of their worthy chairman, who was not only the
head of the greatest banking institution in the province,
but also one who had endeared himself to men of all par-
ties, by his amiable, upright, and consistent conduct
through life.

Drunk with all the honours.
The Hon. Mr. M`GILL returned thanks—When people
felt much they could say little, and he assured them that
he felt very deeply the honour which had been done him,
although he had been left standing on his stumps among
them. (Laughter.) The hon. Inspector-General might
have introduced his name as President of the Bank of
Montreal to endorse his ve pert observations respecting
the negotiation of securities.ry He had a great deal in- his
power so long as he occupied his present position at the
head of her Majesty's Provincial Government, to restrain
the rash enterprises which were now broached, and he
should do so. Every county and township seemed pre-
pared to pledge their credit for favourite railway schemes,
but the time might shortly come when many of these
would prove unsound, and the credit of the municipalities
of the province destroyed, and that of the province itself
seriously injured thereby. He thought it would be more
prudent on the part of the Provincial Government to re-
strain these enterprises. He again thanked them very
heartily for the cordial manner in which they had drank
his health.
The neat toast was proposed by the first Vice President,
the Hon. JOHN YOUNG, M. P. P. He would only detain
them a few minutes in proposing the toast entrusted
to him, a duty which he had great pleasure in per-
forming. As he was certain there was no Montrealer, and
indeed no Canadian present who would not take pleasure in
drinking it. The importance of a bridge to connect the
two shores of, their great river could hardly be over-esti-
mated, and happily for Montreal, and for the trade of the
province at large, its site had been fixed at a place where
seagoing vessels of a thousand tons could meet and exchange
cargoes with the schooners and propellers by means of
which our inland navigation was carried on. It might be
interestinc, to some present to learn the particulars of the
history of this great prospected work. It was first men-
tioned in public in June, 1846, when a meeting of the
friends of the project took place, and a sum of money sub-
scribed, and a Philadelphia engineer brought in to decide
upon its feasibility. His report was favourable to the
views of the projectors. In 1848 a private company was
formed, and a bill incorporating them passed in the Lower
House of Parliament, but was rejected in the Upper House.
In 1819 when the necessity of the Kingston Railway was
recognised, the directors of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic
Railway lent their credit to the company for the construc-
tion of that road, for the purpose of procuring a more
minute survey of a site for the bridge. It was then placed
in the hands of Mr. T. C. Keefer, whose excellent map and
report had now been for some time before the public. No
one doubted the importance of the railway, but it would
be all of no use without the bridge. For instance, the
freight of flour from Longueuil to Portland, a distance of
292 miles, was but forty cents, while from Montreal to
Longueuil, two miles, it amounted to five cents. Fears
had been expressed about the construction of the bridge,
and many people were apprehensive that it would be car-
ried away by the ice, but when they thought that they
had among them a Stephenson and a Ross, they could not
but belieVe that it could be safely carried through. That
the same genius which bridged the Menai Straits, would
overcome all the difficulties in the way of spanninc, our
mighty St. Lawrence. (Cheers.) He called upon them to
drink to " the Victoria Bridge, the latest planned of the
great bridges of the world."

Drunk with honours.
Charlie."

Band—" Over the water to