The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-03 00:00:00

Guatemala 5 per Cont. _
It9lian 5 per Cent 1865
Do, Account , _
l)o. Maremmana Railway —
'exican- 3 per Cent
Do. Account
P'. 1864 —

Do 6 per Cent. Anglo-French —
Sl.ontevidean 6 por Cont
Nloorisl) Imperial 5 per Cent
ow Granada l3i
Do 3 per Con —
Do. Deferred
Do Laud Jarrants (Hectares)
oruvian 5 per Cent., 1865 i
Do 41 per Cent. (Uribarren)
Do 41 per Cont., 1862
Do Account
Portsguese 3 per Cent., 1853
,o Account
Do 3 per Cont., 1856, '7, '9, '6O, '62, '3.
Do. Account
Russian 5 per Cent., 1822, £ St B6.
Do 41 per Cent. 1850
Do 41 per Cent., 1860
Do 3 per Cent. 1859
Do 5 per Cent. 1862
Do 5 per Cent. 1861 BB4
Do. Anglo-Dutch, 1866, all pail B6i
Do. do. £lO paid —
3ardinian 5 per Cent
Do. Account
Spanish 3 per Cent
Do Account
Do New Deferred —
Do Account -
Do Passive —
Do Account 2l }
Spanish Cert. of Coup not funded —
Do Account l4
Swedish 4 per Cent.
Do. 41 per Cont. 1864
Do. Scrip, £6O paid
Uurlcish 6 per Cont. 1854
Do. Account
Do 6 per Cent. 1858
Do. Account
Do £lOO Bonds -
Do 6 per Cent. 1862
Do Account 521 2} 31
Do £lOO Bonds
,
Do Account 53
Do 6 per Cent., 1863 —
Do 5 per Cent., 1865
Do. Account

dig

32~ }

Do. 4 per Cent. Guaranteed lOO
Venezuela 3 per Cent. —
Do Account —
Do 6 per Cent., 1862
Do Account
')o. 6 per Cent, 1864 —
Ditto 11 per Cent. —
Dividenas on the above payable in Lout.,
Austrian, b pm- Cent., Ex. 10 Florins
Belgian. 44 per cent., Ex. 25f.
thiitu. 3 per Cent. 1831. Ex. 251. •—•
Do. 5 por Cont. Amour...
THREE O'CLOCK.

Consols, Money
9CI Do. Account, Jan.

Is American Commerce t ) be Extinguished /

Under the above headitTg the New York Times of
Dec. 17 writes as follows :
" One of the most striking passages in the report
of the Secretary of the Treasury is that in which
ho demonstrates the effect of high duties upon
raw material in diminishing and almost destroying
our once important business of ship and steamer
building. He shows that though formerly a first-
class commercial Power, and apparently destined
soon to lead the commerce of the world, we have
during the last six years been steadily falling behind
Great Britain, and if the diminution of our ship-
building and carrying trade goes on at the present
rates (of some 50 per cent. in six years) we shall
before long cease to be a commercial Power of any
importance. These serious facts are confirmed by
figures showing the decrease in American tonnage
from this country, and the increase in English em-
ployed in our port, such as the following :—The
tonnage of American vessels engaged in the foreign
carrying trade which entered United States' ports
was—in 1860, 5,921,285 tons ; in 1865, 2,943,661
tons ; in 1866, 3,372,060 tons. The tonnage of
such vessels which were cleared from the United
States was—in 1860, 6,165,924 tons ; in. 1865,
3,025,134 tons; in 1866, 3,383,176 tons. The
tonnage of foreign vessels which entered our ports
was—in 1860, 2,353,911 tons ;in 1865, 3,216,967
tons ;in 1866, 4,410,424 tons. The tonnage of
foreign vessels which were cleared was—in 1860,
2,624,005 tons ; in 1865, 3,595,123 tons; in 1866,
4,438,381 tons. These statements have been
strengthened by a fact which has called forth some
public remark within a day or two—the approach-
ing sales of two steamers of the Havre line, they
being apparently the last American steamers on
any great line between New York and Europe. So
ends our expected great commerce in American-
built ocean steamers. Great Britain has a vast fleet
of iron commercial steamers plying over every sea,
built so cheaply and ingeniously as to drive out all
competition. In the grand business struggle of nearly
a century to get possession of or to lead the com-
merce of the ocean, the United States, that seemed
once on the point of victory, must now own to
defeat. She is not only a commercial Power, second
to Great Britain, but she seems destined to still fur-
ther inferiority, and to be almost driven from the
seas. The explanation of this mortifying defeat is
not to be found alone in cheap labour, for labour
was cheaper in Great Britain 25 years ago than
now, and the difference between what wages will
buy in the two countries is not so great as it was a
few years since. The difficulty is the same as that
which is gradually taking our machine manufacture
from us, so that machines for South America, for
instance, which used to be ordered in New York,
are now made in England. It is said that even
river steamboats will soon be plying on our waters
which were manufactured in Great Britain, because
with all the duties they can be made so much
cheaper there. This, as Mr. M'Culloch
wisely remarks, is a direct effect of the high
protective system, especially as applied to raw
material. It must be remembered that such a tariff
as we have now weighs upon every article which the
manufacturer uses—his iron, brass, steel, wood, coal,
and tools ; and he not only has to compete with the
cheaper labour of England, which he might do with
the aid of ingenuity, but he has to work on raw pro-
ducts which are all far dearer than in England,
owing to our exorbitant duties. More than this, the,
effect of such a high bounty as the present tariff
offers, is to encourage, with the American producers
of the raw material, a carelessness, extravagance,
and want of business prudence and saving which
gradually render their production more expensive.
-There is nothing which stimulates economy, inge-
nuity, invention, and care like open competition.
The moment Government comes in to back up an
interest with excessive duties it becomes wasteful,
and soon loses the watchful care which before made it
successful. We have no doubt there is something of
this effect of very high duties even on our manufac-
turers as well as our producers of coal and iron. It
must be borne in mind also that the expenses of the
labourers are greater under the high duties upon raw
materials, and of course their wages must be greater,
and thus the cost of manufacturing be increased.
Our ingenuity, even under a revenue tariff, enabled
us formerly with dearer labour to compete with
Great Britain in shipbuilding and in many articles
of manufacture. It will again, if the immoderately
heavy duties on raw materials be removed, and pro-
duction of manufactures be thus cheapened, and in-
dividual expenses so be diminished. This country
is especially adapted to be a great commercial
country. Its forests of pines and oak, its mines of
iron and coal, its countless bays and harbour; the
hardy men on the coasts trained to the sea, its
connection in trade with so many countries, and the
new link now forming between the East and Eu-
rope over California and the Isthmus all show that
if no false system be adopted, we shall become
gradually and naturally the great carrier of the
world's produce, and take the place which Venice
and Holland had once, and Great Britain holds
now. But if, on the other hand, our commerce be
destroyed by our own suicidal policy, by a fatal
mistake in political economy, we may in our
youth lose that which we can never regain in our
maturity, and the trade of the world pass out of
our hands, and become merely a wealthy China,
where agriculture alone shall be the profitable
pursuit, and manufactures and commerce be left
to foreign hands. Commerce is the great libe-
raliser and civiliser of a people. It
brings a na-
tion in contact with foreigners ; it is the best
school for a navy ; it prepares us for what is our
only danger in the future—a naval war. We must
always export our raw produce largely and import
luxuries, and we ought not to lose the vast profits
of the carriage. The American commerce of a
century to come may depend on the revenue and
protective system we now establish. Let Congress
see to it that it be a wise and liberal one.