The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-07 00:00:00

about three months' consumption.':-.ln'Toe;fsberlalciodden
the supplies Aro more and tlautices Mere steady
Wan in other articles. ' 'll
$.2
It is not my purpose, however, to gs- thrOggh to*
items, but rather to speak generally. The amount of
imports are altogether in excess of the requirements of
the colony, increasing as they gradually did throughout
1853, till they reached the maximum in the first quarter
of 1854 of 5,304,6881. in value. The returns for the
second'quarter show a beneficial decrease; the amount
for that period being 3,253,6541. ; but, great as this de-
crease, is, a still further falling off is looked for. The
heavy losses which inexperienced speculators must have
incurred during the past twelve months will, it is hoped,
effectually act as a check upon those miscelianeous ven-
tures to which, in the chief degree, the present glutted
state of the market may be traced. Legitimate con-
, signors will, however, do well to exercise an unceasing
cautiousness over shipments to this colony. The selec-
tion of suitable goods will continue to them a prosperous
trade, and they must have discovered by this time that
those articles the characters of which will not bear keen
investigation, whether they be of merchandise or law,
will not "go down " with the Melbourne market. And
on this subject Jam able to state on good grounds that
while the results of the speculative consignments I have
alluded to have been in most cases heavy and almost
loser,ruinous
undoubtedly,
although ofurge
frequently
ean
tgl rye
in
legitimate tmanyinm instances,Le
the very same articles bided his time and realised at a
losses,
tile
small profit, or still holds for au upward market.
trader,
In the article of breads-tuffs we are now chiefly depen-
dent on the neighbouring colony of South Australia, but
we shall require some additional supply, for which we .
depend upon Chili and the United States. We are gra-
&telly shipping away the accumulations of our sour
stock ; 7.800 rrels have been consigned to Liverpool
during the past two months, and it is calculated that
there are about 4,000 barrels to follow.
The export trade of the colony has not yet recovered
from the entire disruption which followed the discovery
of gold; but it is satisfactory to know that the attention
of several of our first houses is now fixed on this sub-
ject, and the certainty and speed of the regular line of
ounces r4 4 ending
o tons,
f
traders_between_thie colony and the mother country will
7
keep this attention awakened. The.gross exports for the
hal f ea (
owr
t.s;h3e 4
1854,srasm. elwteiebrre.i,ol4dl,9woOeu9rn,eBcBelBo;o)l..niThh4b33l:
shipments
as compared with the shipments for the half-year ending
July 5, 1853, of 1;234,0.78/., shows a considerable defi-
ciency, but the stooks are known to be large in the banks
and in the various lold.offices, and no falling off is anti-
cipated on the year's shipments.
The early part of the year was unusually dry, even for
Australia, and nothing could be done beyond piling up
the stuff for the wet season. This is now being washed
and the produce brought down.
The shipments of gold and specie to England since the
last overland snail are as follows :—May 2S, the Indian
Queen, for Liverpool, 60,859 oz. gold, 3,200/. specie ;
June 16, the Swarthmore, for London, 63,128 oz. gold,.
8.9851. specie ; June 2S, the Eagle, for Liverpool,
80,426 oz. gold, 34,9991. specie ; July 9, the Saldanha,
for Liverpool, 32,072 oz. gold, 1,4001. specie ; July 14,
the Golden Era, for Liverpool, 44,601 oz. gold, 26,2001.
specie ; July 22, the Queen of the South, for Southamp-
ton, 50,099 oz. gold, 78,7811. specie ; July 23, the
Guiding Star, for Liverpool, 49,596 oz. gold, 19,0001.
specie. The Queen of the South has also on board,
from Sydney, 4,217 oz. of gold and 61,2551. in specie.
In bringing this short notice to a close, I think a few
words are necessary on the attention that is now being
paid to the rapid discharge of vessels. The Golden Era
and the Saldanha, ships of 1,550 tons register, have both
been discharged, reloaded, and one to sea on their
homeward voyage in less than 30 days' from their arrival.
This prompt despatch will, when our trade has become
properly balanced, and our imports are again in the hands
of the regular merchant, be felt as a great boon to the
shipowner, and will quickly remove the somewhat bad
name which this port has acquired for the detention of
vessels.