The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-21 00:00:00

THE CORN TRADE.

HULL, TUESDAY.—The harvest in this district is
now entirely finished, and under most favourable
circumstances. The weather throughout was every-
thing that could be desired, and hence the condition
of all grain is unusually good. Wheat was sown
more extensively than usual, is an excellent crop ; a
full average, and of great weight ; it is yielding well
to the flail.

Barley is less grown than formerly ; it is a very
good crop, and of nice malting quality. Oats, which
were thought ill of at one time, recovered much, and
may be written a fair average; the breadth of land
under this grain increases, while that of Barley
diminishes yearly.
Neither beans nor peas are so much grown as for-
merly with us, and this year they are very defective
indeed, but the quality and condition are good, though
the former are somewhat shrivelled.
Potatoes are deficient in produce, but of superior
quality. Turnips are a failing crop, but have par-
tially recovered since the late rains.
There was a very fair quantity of old wheat left
in farmers' hands at the harvest of 1846, but we be-
lieve that there is less held by them at the present
time than for some years past. Factors hold none,
and of foreign the stock for such a port is only small,
especially of fine qualities.
The past week has been marked by much dulness
in every branch of the trade. The monetary diffi-
culties, which have so long oppressed every branch of
commerce do not subside, and though Hull has for
tunately kept clear of failures, or even rumours of
failures, every line of business is affected, and ren-
dered unpleasant to the last degree. We trust that
there are signs of returning confidence (for that is
the element whose absence has upset so many) in the
commercial world, and this cannot fail to have a bene-
ficial influence upon our own trade.
At this day's market we had a small supply of
wheat from the farmers, field operations now en-
giging their attention ; millers were expecting to
buy on much lower terms than last week., but farmers
being unwilling to submit, the business done was
limited, at about 2s. to 3s. reduction. Foreign dull
sale, though the quantity offering is not large : some
parcels of new keep arriving by steamer for sale,
and may be bought in the line.
Very little business done in malting barley, but
grinding is scarce and sells at extreme rates.
Oats are rather dull—new foreign of good quality
worth 215., weighing 38ilbs. Russian may be
bought somewhat under this rate.

STATE OF TRADE.
MANCHESTER, TUESDAT.—In our last report we
expressed a hope that, if the large amount of engage-
ments falling due in London and Liverpool at the
close of the week, should be met without producing
any serious disasters, we might reasonably look for
some relaxation of the existing pressure. Our
worst apprehension, however, has most unfortunately
been realised. The Royal Bank of Liverpool, which
was well known to be deeply encumbered by advances
on produce, has been compelled to suspend its pay-
ments and close its doors. For the particulars of
this most untoward event, we must refer our readers
to the letters of our Liverpool correspondents, and to
extracts from the Liverpool papers, given elsewhere.
It will be seen that some expectations were, at first,
entertained, that the Bank of England might be
induced to extend such aid to the suspended bank as
would enable its directors to resume their business.
Upon what grounds any such expectations could have
been entertained, we are at a loss to conceive. The
general management of the Bank of England has not
al ways been the most judicious of late; but there must
have been an utter absence of all true perception of
their own duties on the part of the directors, if they
had listened to the application. It is perfectly clear
from the present condition of the Royal Bank
(if we may believe the statements now current
on that subject), that its directors were as
utterly unfit to conduct the operations of a
large banking establishment, as were those of some
similar concerns in this town ; and if the directors
of the Bank of England, by advances of money,
had enabled them to resume their business, and to re •
peat at some future time their recent folly, with its
concomitant mischief to the public, the act would
have been not merely foolish, but criminal. We are
by no means clear that the Bank of England is in
any condition to undertake very large operations for
the relief of suspended banks ; but if its means had
been unlimited, the only answer which could be pro-
perly returned to an application for relief from such
a quarter, would be the same as that made to a Man-
chester jcint-stock bank under similar circumstances,
namely, that no assistance whatever would be given
with the view of carrying on a bank which had been
rashly and imprudently conducted, but that if any
amount of aid, which could be prudently given in
winding up its affairs, which would diminish the
shock to the trade of the town, it would not be with-
held. Whether the directors of the Bank of England
will now be able or willing to assist the Royal Bank
in going into liquidation, we are wholly unable to
say ; but such assistance would be not only unob-
jectionable, but highly desirable.
It will be seen that this suspension has caused some
pressure upon one or two of the other Liverpool banks,
though not to the extent which might have been
anticipated. One small establishment—the Liverpool
Banking Company,—is said to have requested indul-
gence from its depositors, but to have paid in all cases
where payment was insisted upon. The remaining
banks are, we believe, in a very safe position ; and we
trust that the public confidence in them will not be
seriously shaken. Indeed, the failure of the Royal
Bank furnishes no reason for uneasiness respecting
the rest. The erroneous principles on which its
business was conducted, and the extravagant amount
of its advances to particular firms, were sufficiently
notoriously ; and its fall at the present time cannot
cause any reasonable surprise. We are not altogether
without hope, that the occurrence of this failure,
though it must produce a considerable amount of
disaster at Liverpool and elsewhere, may bring us
nearer to a termination of the existing difficulties.
The known conditon of the bank weighed like an
incubus on the commerce of the port, and effectually
prevented any approach to an improvement in business.
Although the suspension of the Royal Bank has
caused, as might be expected, a great sensation upon
our exchange, it has not been attended by any
serious disasters here. There have been no failures
worth mentioning since our last report; and we are
glad to learn that the realisLtion of the assets of the
suspended firm of De Jersey and Co. is proceeding
very satisfactorily. It is stated that the advices from
Russia, in respect to its affairs there, are favourable ;
that the inspectors appointed at the meeting of credi-
tors have already received between forty thousand and
fifty thousand pounds, and there is every reason to
believe that a first instalment on the debts will be
paid very shortly.
In this market the amount of business transacted
has necessarily been small ; but still the feeling of
depression is not so severe as might have been ex-
pected under existing circumstances. A few low
sales continue to be made for present cash ; but, as
it is pretty well known that there is a fair amount of
orders for American and German account in the
hands of the buying agents, those spinners and manu-
facturers who are able to hold their produce, or to sell
on the usual credits, will not submit to any material
reduction of prices,
The weekly return of the state of the mills, and the
workpeople employed in them, in the borough of
Manchester, which for some time has been gradually
becoming extremely bad, exhibits, for the present
week, a more unfavourable aspect than ever. It ap-
pears from the returns, that very few more than
one-half of the whole number of mills in this city are
now working full time, the diminution from last
week having been fifteen. The numbers of those
stopped altogether remain unaltered. This forced
reduction in the hours of working has necessarily had
a corresponding effect upon the workpeople, for the
nsmonebl
increase
employed has been reduced by
nearlyt,.c, five thousand ; the increase to the numbers of
a slight
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We have a fair demand for beans, though at a de-
cline upon last week's rates ; new foreign are worth
425. to 435. 63165., Egyptian 37's. the same weight—
of the latter a large and superior cargo is on the
market. Peas are very good to sell at full prices.
Rye meal continues to arrive,:and some small car-
goes from near ports having come in to be sold, lower
prices have been taken ; when these are cleared oft'
we may look for some improvement.
We have again good arrivals of linseed, of various
qualities, and a fair extent of business is daily done
at fully late rates : several arrivals of cake, chiefly
first quality: they meet a good demand at our quo-
tations—Hull made are held at high rates.
We are without rapeseed on the market—any arri-
vals being for crushers' account. Rape cakes may
be bought on easier terms.
No transactions of consequence in bones or guano.