The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-04 00:00:00

RN ING EDI TION•

IMPORT, STOCKS, AND CON-

SUMPTION OF COTTON.

From the Annual Circular of the Liverpool United
Brokers.)

LIVERPOOL, DEc. 31, 181 O.—There has seldom
been a period during which the movements of the cotton
trade have been so much in unison with general expec-
tation as the year just terminated. A state of depres-
sion so intense and wide-spreading as to be mistaken
by some for the first symptoms of the decline and fell
Of this branch of national industry, had been succeeded
by a slow but progressive amendment ; and for several
weeks before the commencement of the new year, almost
Avery department of the cotton manufacture had resumed
Its wonted activity. The stocks in the ports and the in-
terior, if not very heavy, were still ample in the face of
coming crop, which, according to all reports from the
United States, gave promise of being most abundant ;
Prices were moderate, compared with what they had
been ; and money, though not wanting for all the legi-
timate purposes of business, was neither thee, nor likely
to
so cheap as to invite extravagant speculation, or
to provoke excessive production.
Such being the posture of affairs in the month of
December, 1839, it required no gift of prophecy to
Predict that the approaching year would be one of
great plenty, :ow prices, large consumption, and small
Profits. If these results were pretty accurately fore-
seen, so have the incidents of the year been few and
uninteresting. The co.nmercial operations in cotton
have, in fact been permitted to flow in their natural
channel. The functions of the private trader have
clued to be invaded and usurped by the American
Banks ; and, the intercourse between the two countries
being freed from this pernicious interference, prices on .
both sides of the water have found their proper level,
to the manifest advantage atr.l security of the planter,
shipper, importer, and consumer.
But the grand event of the year is the marvellous
increase in the growth of cotton in the United States.
In order to exhibit this important fact in its true mag-
nitude and proportions, it is necessary to take a retro-
spective glance at the question of crops for several
years past. Beginning, then, with the y. at 1830, it
will be seen that the crop of .
1830.31 was 1,038,848 bales. Increase 61 per cent.
1831 32 987,477 Decrease 5
1832.33 1,070,438 Increase 8}
'833.34 1,205,394
1834-35 1,254,328 4
1835_36
1,360,725 81
1836-37 1,422,930 4.
1837-39 1,801,497 261
1838-39 1,360,532 Decrease 241
:40 2,177,835 Increase 60
In examining this statement, the eye will at once rest
Upon the sudden and extraordinary increase in the crop
01837-38, and again, with au interval of a year only,
in that of 1839-40, which contrasts strongly with the
eagy and pretty equal stages by which the production
had been advancing for the seven preceding years. v i
causee, or a combination of them, may be assigned
for these remarkable results—an improved mode of cul-
ture, an extension of the cultivation, not only in the old
districts, but into latitudes less exposed to frosts and to
variable seasons, and chiefly (especially with reference
to the last crop) the coincidence of a most favourable
Inflamer, with an unprecedentedly open winter. But
the filet itself, however brought about, is full of interest
to the cotton trade, as it is destined probably to work
important changes, and at no very distant period.
The new year had scarcely commenced before the
apprehensions of an overwhelming import were mani•
fested in a very general desire to realize existing prices ;
and, by the last week in January, fair qualities of Ame-
rican had fallen id. per lb. No change beyond an oc-
casional fluctuation of per lb. occurred until the be-
ginning of June, when prices experienced a further re-
duction of V. per la. making the deline Id. per lb. since
the first week of the year. This was the lowest point of
the market ; and it, is a cireurnstance worthy of notice,
that, with an import almost unexampled in amount,
with an average stock of 470,000 bales, and with money
never eneap, and at times exorbitantly dear, fair Up
lands should not have varied more than 11(1. to per
lb. for the six months between June and November.
Steady rather than extensive buying was the charac-
teristic of the market during this period. The trade
as a body—some from not seeing any adequate induce-
ment to hold stock, end not a few from a necessity im-
posed upon them by the state of commercial credit—
took little more than they required for their immediate
wants. The business en speculation, though crippled
from the latter cause, was by no means inconsiderable ;
ibtudt,isithough spread pretty equally throughout the year,
not assume a very decided character till towards
the middle of August, when the fate of the harvest was
auppoled to be no longer doubtful. The market, ho
ever, after a week or two, relapsed into its former apathy
and what witk the
strin'itielent pmeasures of the hank for
curtailing discounts,
and • threatening aspect of poU
tical affairs, it was as tom perhaps in point of feeling in
the latter end of October and the beginning of Novem-
ber as at any period of the year.
From that time there has been a growing impression
that prices had seen their lowest ; and the improvement
which had been gradually taking place in the manufac-
turing business seemed to point to the probability and
the reasonableness of sonic advance. Coming upon a
market thus predisposed, it
was to be expected that any
accounts in the slightest degree unfavourable to the
prospect of the crop would be eagerly pressed into the
service. The reports accordingly received a fortnight
ag° of frosts in some districts, and unpropitious
weather in others, by which the picking had been
prematurely suspended, had not been without their
effect
; and though the i.ijury is not pretended to be
to an extent to awaken any serious apprehensions for
the safety of the crop, yet, coupled with other advices
of a similar tendency, they go far to negative the pos-
sibility of what the holders hal the most reason to
dread_the recurrence of another crop such as that of
last year. Be this as it may, the market bus since
worn a mote cheerful aspect, and both speculators
and the trade have purchased with more avidity than
for months past, at a gradual advance of about Fl
per lb., since the movement began in the second week
in December ; thus placing the prices of American cot-
ttoh.ne omnidtahlngeila, and
last day of the ear within id. per lb. fur
id, per lb. for the better qualities,
~1 what they were on the first. Surats, which from
the large quantity imported have played a more im-
portant part than usual, have partaken of the same fluc-
tuations as American, and bear the same relative price
at the close as at the commencement of the year.
or all descriptions of long-stapled cotton this has
been a year of much disappointment. Fair Sae Islands
!bide opened at 22d. per lb. before the end of January,
tell to 16d. per lb., and by the middle of the following
month to 1311. per lb. ; in a few weeks they rallied
Again to 14+1. per ib., and vibrated between that price
and 15id per lb. for the remainder of the year.
Egyptians iu the first two months experienced a reduc-
tion of 2d. per lb., of which they recovered Id in the
course of the two next ; and during the last three months
they have gained another id. per lb. Brazils con-
tinued at a decline of a Ad. per lb. for several
months, and finally settled down in October at the
lowest point, trove which they have never moved ;
.'eratims and I3altias being in. per lb., and Maranhains
lid• per lb. below what they were at the beginning of
the year. Prom first to lust, the demand for these des-
criptions has been extremely languid, owing to the hurl-
VA wants of the spinners of the finer numbers of yarn.
The stocks on had are consequently disproportioned to
the consumption, though the supply has been nether
less thee, more than it was the previous year.
For the details of stocks and imports, reference is
requested to annexed tables. The import from the
United states into the kingdom exceeds that of last
year by 400,703 bales ; that of Surats is also larger by
)83.819 bales, owing partly to an abundant crop, and
Partly to the interrupt:on of the intercourse between
India and China, %,‘ filch has been the means of divert-
ing a portion of the coten destined for the latter to
this country. The growth of the Brazils appears to
be on the decline, the supplies thence having been di-
minishing for sonic years. Prom Egypt the import
has been the same v ithin three or four thousand bales
in excess of last year's. The stock of all kinds in the
Ports amounts to 464,100 hales, being an increase upon
the stocks held at the corresponding period of last
year of 198,610 bates. 'file deliveries to the trade, ac-
eording to the usual mode of ascertaining them, have
,beeti from Livervol, London, and Glasgow, 1,285,598
'bales, or at the rate of 24,921 bales per week, which
psantity may be taken to represent also the consump-
tion, supposing the stocks in the interior to be the
same as At this time last year. This latter is a point
alweys difficult of pro,f ; but, from the known in-
ability of roany of the spinners to hold stock, and from
general it.quiries, this may be assumed in the uffirnia-
ti''e ; but, Annitti:;;; that sonic 30,000 bales more,
l'ecutding to the opinion of many, the difference, in
del'ing e.ith such large quantities cannot materially affect
tile result. This increase in the consumption of 3,015
I),des per week, or 14 per cent. upon last year's, it the
more retnarkabla as having beta accomplished without
addition, i r any corresponding degree, of new mills
or new machinery. 'l'h2 narrow margin left for profit
has i•kel to the ird.roduction of more expeditious processes,
whilst the cheapness of the raw material
.has offered
every eireatt,c::genient for the production of a more sub-
'tallaril f, brie, The demand, indeed, has been chiefly
for low titiosbere of yarn and fur heavy goods, which
for the !nit f, w months at least, have found a ready
inerleet et Lome and abroad. The stocks of goods are
L'lii-Aed to be 1,.‘0r0 considerable than those of yarn ;
t/w export of the latter having been, according to
" Burn's C.tnimerci:al Gk; ncei" greater by about 83
Per Clint. during tire first nine months this year than foil
1.15 corresponding periodi,:sf. In goods, the export, a,.
10en by the same publication,lia.:, been less ; but owing
to the variety in the denorniatr•ions, the comparison it
P°Mt of weight cannot so readily he made.
With respect to the future, upon which some opiniot:
on tl:is annual occasion is expected, the issue of th,
list crop hr.s involved the' subject in greatett difEcult
• 11191 usurt',. So long as the growth of cotton in Ame-
riei proceeded with the steady march which cherae.
teriSed it for several years prior to 1837, a period dur'

ing which the rate of increase was seldom less than
4 per cent. or more than 8 per cent. per annum, the
supply might be regarded, if not as a fixed quantity,
at least as vibrating between such narrow limits as
rendered it not likely, singly considered, to t ffect any
great or permanent revolution in the st aulard of
prices. But what has been the experience of the last
three years? The first gave a crop exceeding by no
less than 261 per cent. that of the year before, which,
ho it observed, was larger by five per cent. than any
former one ; the second, though visited by a long
drought, which materially injured the plant, produced
a full average of the four previous years, omitting the
large crop of the preceding year ; and the third yielded
an increase of 21 per cent., not upon the failing crop
which it followed, but upon that of the year but one
before, which, it must be remembered, was larger by
261 per cent. than any upon record up to that time,
thus showing an increase in the last crop of 53 per cent.
upon that of the year 1836-37. From whatever cause
arising (arid some, at least, of those mentioned in a former
part as the most probable ones will not be considered to be
purely accidental), these results cannot but tend to throat
an uncertainty around all calculations founded on supply.
and to unsettle the received notions as to what are high
or low prices ; for, although it be true, that the consump-
tion has been able to cope with an import greater, into
the kingdom, than last year's, by 484,000 bales, with-
out either an extraordinary depression of price or an
inconvenient accumulation of stock, it must not be
forgotten that the crop now under discussion cams
upan the heels of one as deficient as the other was
superabundant. To put a case more nearly parallel
with the circumstances of the current year, it should
be asked—what would have been the state of things
at the present moment but for the casualty which befel
the crop of 1837.38? It is difficult to resist the be-
lief, that the stocks on hand would have been larger,
and the prices lo.vcr ; and if the forthcoming crop is
not to fall short of 1,800,000 bales (which is admitted,
in spite of all untoward events), the conclusion would
seem to be as inevitable, that prices cannot, ou the
average, much exceed, if at all, those of this year.
Some allowance must, no doubt, be made for a rea-
sonable increase in the wants of all the cotton•con-
<nafm,

___ing countries ; but, on the other band, let it be
kept steadily view, that Cee, first condition of that
increase is a low price. Attempts to reduce to figures
quantities so liable to disturbing causes are usually
attended with but little success the following state-
ment, however, is submitted as a mere approximation,
to bo taken for what it is worth. On the last occa-
sion of a crop of 1,800,000 bales, in 1838, din, coun-
try received 1,123,000 bales. The continent, as well
as America herself, will require a I..rger supply than
at the period alluded to ; but both have considerably
anticipated these additional wants by the larger por-
tion they have either retained or imported of the late
crop. The imports, indeed, of American cotton, into the
diferent ports of the continent, have been more than
double what they were last year, viz., 629 000 bales
against 276,000 bales.

Great Britain may then fairly claim 1,050,000 bales.
To this add the import from all
other quarters, estimated to be
the same as this year, say
And the stock now on hand in
Liverpool, Landon, and Glasgow 464,100

1,878,100

Deducting what may be taken fur

exportation
Gives a total for the service of the
car of

1,759,100
Now, allowing a weekly delivery of 25,500 bales, which
s surely ample, the stock, on these data, this time next
year, will be 433,100 bales ; a quantity large enough
to allay all fears of anything bordering on a.deficiency,
and to ensure moderate prices. The precise limits of
the latter will be determined by public opinion, acted
upon as it will be, not always according to sound reason,
by the passing events of the day, by the prospects of
peace or war, by the price of food, by the scarcity or
abundance of money, real or artificial, and by many
other considerations, often swelled on the impulse of
the moment into undue importance.
'faking an enlarged, or as it may be termed, a na-
tional view of the subject, the greatest calamity that
could 1)42E11 the cotton trade would be a return to high
prices. If it is to maintain its supremacy, if it is to
continue not only to extend the occupation of territory
exclusively its own, but to encroach upon that of the
kindred staples of silk, flax, and wool, it must rest on
the broad and secure base of large stocks and low prices
of the raw material ; else the skill, the enterprise, and
the industry of our manufacturers will be defrauded of

:heir just reward, and their labour will be in vain.
The total import of Cotton Wool into Liverpool in
:he yrar 1840, as compared with the years 1838 and
1839, was in 1838, 1,328,604 ; 1839, 1,016,510 ; 1840,
1,414,726.

Total Imports, Export, and Stock cf Cotton for the King
done, 3161. December, 1838, 1839, and 1840.
IMPORT.

Liverpool. London. Glasgow. Total.
Total, 1840... 1,416,266 94,706 89,436 1,600,403
Total, 1839... 1,019,387 54,079 42.910 1,116,376
Total, 1838... 1,328,647 43,570 56,560 1,428,777

EXPORT.

1ota!, 1810... 62,200 53,800 200 116,200
Total, 1839... 78.950 34,100 250 113,300
Total, 1838... (10,500 40,900 970 102,370

STOCK.

Total, 1849... 366,140 50,660 47,250 464,050
Total, 1839... 206,050 31,640 27,800 265,490
Total, 1838... 248 340 46,450 26,300 321,090
Stock of Cotton in Great Britain at the Close of the
Years 1837 to 1840 inclusive.
1837 183 V 1839 1840
Total Stock... 259,340 321,090 265,490 464,050
Average Deliveries per Week from the Ports of Great
Britain, for Home Consumption.
1837. 1838. 1839. 1840.
20,785 24,201 20.360 24,724

Growth and Consumption of Cotton in the United States,
from the Year 1836 to 1840.
Year!. Growth. Consumption.
1836-7
1837 8
1838-9
1839-40 2,177,835 291,279

C URCIP.RATES.--We understand that Mr.
Dgniel Palfrey of this town bas at length been served the
with a " citation," as it is termed, to " compeer" before
the Arches Court at Canterbury, at the instance of Wm.

Still and Joseph Bonn, Churchwardetis of St. Mary's
parish, in a cause of, subtraction of Church-rates ; that is
to show cause shy she disputes the legality of the rates
made by these persons, on a day afterwards to be fixed. As
we lesrn Mr. Palfrey has made arrangements for entering on
his defence, and is fully determined to resist to the utmost
this i,iquituus impost. When the Churchwardens were
,-'eft ated before the Magistrates, in this very- gams case
that they are tiaw about to take to the Arches Court, Mr.
Kennett, the Magi2trate's clerk, told Mr. Gravener the

parish clerk, that it was his opinion that if the caw were
carried to the Eccle3iastical Court it would not share a

better !ate. But, regardless of every warning, and of all
consequences, we shculd nut wonder if these headstrong
ignorant men plunge the parishioners into another load of
useless law costs, similar to that with which one of them,
Mr. Still, has bee,' instrumental in saddling the commu-
nity in the notorkus Mandamus affair. —Dover Chronicle.
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.—O❑ occasion of the
funeral of General Lamarque, when the streets of Penis
wer., strewed with dead and wounded to the amount of hun-

dreds, and 1,500 criminals were consigned to its gaols, a
singular occurrence took place. Toe detail of the ar-
rangements made to meet this anticipated movement, and
to heal its consequences, and even the sanguinary and re

volting particulars of the terrible march itself, would have
little interest for our readers, fresh as its melancholy inci-
dents must be in their recollection. But it is a curious
circumstance, not, we think, generally known, that among
the wild schemes of that guilty day, one had been forakd
to throw the illustrious Lafayette into the river, as the pro-
cession passed the Pont d'Austcrlitz, for the purpose of at-
tributing his murder to the police, and inflaming the pas-
sions of the multitude up to the point which would have
insured the sacking of Paris. Such are the fearful stakes
with which the political gamblers of France have played of
late years. The General appears to have owed his escape
to the maJ accident of another party of the insurgents,
ignorant of the plot, having forced him into a fiacre, and
carried him elf to the Hotel de Ville, to proclaim a repub-
lic, at the very moment and from the very scene of its in-
tended execution. It is an honourable fact, that, in spite
of the terrible provocation, the blood which flowed on this
occasion received no accession from the scaffold—a fact
worth recalling here, because in the same spirit which,
during the whole of the present troubled reign. has, in a
remarkable degree, tempered the administration of a neces-
sary justice.— eltheiurum.
DREADFUL FIRE—FOUR LIVES LOST.—

On Saturday afternoon intelligence was received at the
various insurance offices of the metropolis, of a most de-
structive fire, attended, we regret to say, with lament-
able sacrifice of human life, which took place on the even-
ing of Wednesday last at Huddersfield. It brckc out in
the extensive mills belonging to Messrs. Roberts and Co.,
situated adjacent to the town. From the account received
it appeared that it was discovered at about twenty mi-
nutcs to eight o'clock, and although the fire-engines
belonging to the town were soon on the spot, and plenty
of water obtained, the fire could not he stopped, and within
two hours the splendid premises were burned to the ground.
About seven o'cl.,ck on the following morning, the gable
ml of the wall of the mill gave way, and fell with a
tremendous crash on a small cottage beneath. The
cottage was occupied by the engineer of the mills, and
his wife and family, consisting of five chilli-en. They un-
fortunately were in the place at the time, and were a I
buried in the ruins. A number of labourers were in.
,tantly yet to w ork to dig them out. The engineer, whose
name was Grang, his wife, and, two children, were dug
out dead, and the other children were dragged out alive,
but so dreadfully injured, that their lives are despaired of.
The fire commence d in the third floor of the mills, but
ihe cause is unknown. The loss it 16,0001.
DESTRUCTION OF A STEAMER BY FIRE.--

The following is an extract of a letter dated Corunna,
December 21 ;—" The steam-packet Clyde, Captain
Guthrie, bound from Neu castle for Gibraltar and Mar-
seilles, put in here (Coltman) on Saturday, the 19:11 lest.,
Ind soon after took fire, She was immediately put or.
bore Rod scuttled, but the afterpart of the vessel was burnt
down to the water's edge. No lives were hat.
A WIIITE BLACKBIRD.---Last week Mr. R.
[
Smart, of .Melton
Mowbray, shot a perfectly white black-
bird at Long Clawson.