The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-27 00:00:00

THE TREATY OF COMMERCE:

Tho outline of the terms of the Treaty of Com-
merce with France furnished by the Patrie seems to
indicate that the reduction of the English wine
duties is to be from the present rate of ss. 9d. per
gallon to ls. per gallon (equal to 2d. per bottle)—
an alteration which will, it is presumed, be general,
and include all foreign as well as colonial growths.
At the same time it appears that the French prohi-
bitions against our iron are to be replaced by a duty
a little less than £3 per ton, and, that woollen and
cotton manufactures are also to be admitted at rates
yet to be fixed, but which are not to exceed 30 per
cent. As the clauses of the treaty are on our part
to be brought into operation within a week or two,
the impression produced in the wine market by the
announcement has, of course, been considerable,
business of all kinds being for the moment virtually
suspended. At present many houses in the trade
doubt the correctness of the statement, but
should it be confirmed an immediate rise in prices
will be expected. The drawback question will
be one of keen anxiety, and probably of diffi-
culty. According to some estimates the paid
duties on existing stocks would be found to
amount to £2,000,000, but this is generally sup-
posed to be greatly beyond the true total. Under
an order of the Inland Revenue-office in 1852 draw-
back can be claimed only on wines on which the
duty has been paid within a limited period, the term
for the red wines of Portugal and France beingatwo
years, while for all other descriptions, including
sherry, it is six months. There is another provision,
also, which will have a greater effect in reducing
the number of claims—namely, that to entitle them-
selves to any return of duty whatever all dealers
must have kept a stock book, showing every quan-
tity received in or delivered out, and embracing a
separate entry of all wine exported—a provision
which is thought in a very large number of instances
to have been imprudently neglected. On the other
hand, as the changes in France are to be delayed for
a year and a half, our iron, cotton, and woollen
markets will, of course, not experience any imme-
diate influence. Assuming the rate of duty named
for iron to apply to manufactured iron, it will be
sufficiently low to admit of a large export trade
from this country, since it seems to be about 33 per
cent, less unfavourable than that of the Zollverein,
in the face of which some of our goods can reach
even Berlin itself. Any satisfactory anticipations
that may be formed on this point must, however,
be contingent upon the absence of local or Custom-
house obstructions, calculated expressly to create
restrictions in a new form, which might become
equally as potent as the old. On pig-iron the duty
of £3 per ton would, it is believed, prove nearly
prohibitory, but it is hoped that on that material
the rate will bo different. Concerning the 30 per
cent. rate on woollen and cotton manufactures the
belief is that it will allow a large introduction of
British cotton goods into the French markets,par-
ticularly in low qualities, and that there are certain
descriptions of low worsted and woollen stuffs
which likewise cannot fail to be taken in consider-
able quantities. A sanguine expectation connected
with the entire movement is that France having
hitherto been the great centre of trading restric-
tions in Europe all the other continental nations
may now lose faith in their narrow systems and
hasten to follow her in her first steps to reform.—
Times.

The Ist battalions of the 9th and 22d Regiments
are ordered to Corfu and Malta respectively, in place of the
Ist battalions of the 14th and 21st Regiments, who go, the
formor to Jamaica, relieving the 41st, and the latter to Jar
badoes, relieving the 49th, both of which regiments return
home.--Array and Navy Gazette.
The uniform recommended by. the War Office
Committee for Volunteer corps is a brownish grey tunic,
and the facings—green, black, red, or the county colour, as
well as the nether clothing—are left to the taste of the dif-
ferent corps. We understand that grey was adopted instead
of scarlet by a majority of one.—Army and Navy Gazette.
The following regiments of Militia will be im-
mediately disembodied. The Antrim Rifles, North Cork,
City of Dublin, County of Limerick, sth Middlesex (El-
thorns), Oxfordshire, 2d Stafford, and 3d West York. By
the Ist of April—the commencement of the financial year
—it is expected the whole of the Militia will be disembodied.
—Army and Navy Gazette.
CHARLES POERIO.—It is with deep grief that we
(Unione)announce the severe illness which has just attacked
the illustrious Baron Charles Poerio. His health, which had
suffered so much in the prisons of the Baurbon of Naples, is
now threatened by typhus fever. All his old companions in
misfortune are constant in their attendance at his bedside,
and his house is filled with dear friends, who all express the
most fervent wishes for his recovery.