The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-21 00:00:00

CANADA.

TORONTO, April 12.
Large numbers of Fenians are gathering aloe g
the New Brunswick frontier, and threatening Ca'al_
po. bello and St. Stephen's. Several British gunboats
are off Eastport, Maine, and Campobello.

A Fenian sailing vessel has escaped to sea from
Eastport.

Movements of Cotton in America.

munaOnituuefara trcseaders are aware that ever since the close
of the war we have maintained an estimate of the
probable supply of cotton in the South largely ex-
ceedingutthear
te
ss estimatesaanndd
G brgye ea ntt ehrßea
rlli yte
ao
tnnt
0. t
ne r ttoari
trade
re
ed
viewsna fm ot nha
as
u
to the supply of raw material have regulated our
opinion upon the condition
of prices in the goods,
market, and have so
widely differed from thoseprQ-
vailing in the trade tha we
understandpresu ourme many of
tiour
readers have been unable
what we deemed a sober
rhiahvreoustgehadallily sorts of
to complaintsand chaprogales weeof
estimate of the stock of cotton, satisfied that our
views should remain to be tested by ultimate results.
Those results are now appearing, and we are prepared
to compare opinions with facts. About a year ago
we said with reference to the probable stock of cot-
ton in the country :
"We apprehend there can be little reasonable
doubVof the existence of large quantities of cotton
in the South. Probably from two millions to two-
and-a-half millions of bales would be a safe esti-
mate of the balance remaining, now that all the
ports have fallen into our hands. The amounts
found at Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington
are a very imperfect criterion of the stock in the
country. The ports have been naturally regarded
as the most exposed places for storing cotton ; for
they have each been long threatened by our navy ;
and, during late months especially, there can have
been little doubt in the minds of the Southern
people that their seaports must soon fall into our
occupation. For the purpose of safety, therefore,
the cotton has been stored in the interior of the
country ' • or it would perhaps be more accurate to
say has been there hoarded. A value is placed
upon cotton in the South of which we have a very
imperfect conception at the North. It is true that,
at present, it does but little towards meeting the
wants of the people ; but it is the only hope of a
large portion of the population when the war shall
have closed. It is the capital on which they hope
to be started in business again when hostilities shall
have ended ; and it is consequently preserved with
as much care as gold itself. We must not therefore
suppose that because our raiders have not discovered
any monster piles of cotton bales in their progress,
there is only a small amount of cotton in the South.
It will ultimately come forth from the attics and
cellars of a thousand private dwellings. It will be
found not only in the hands of cotton planters, but
distributed, in small lots, among nearly all, who
have had a surplus of means which they wished to
invest in something that would depreciate little
during the war, and then, when peace came, they
can promptly convert into ready money by sup-
plying themselves with the commodities that will
then crowd into their markets."
We now find the total supply of cotton in the
South, at the.close of the war, including the new
crop, to have been nearly 2,200,000 bales, or about
half-way between our minimum and maximum esti-
mates. The total is obtained as follows : _

Bales.

Receipts at the ports from May 1, 1865, to Sept
1, 1565
Receipts at the ports from Sept. 1, 1865, to Feb
1, 1866
Estimated amount in the interior on Feb. 1, 1866 550.000
Estimated stock at the Southern ports

Total supply in tho South at the close of the
war 2,195,000
Add stock in other than Southern ports 60,000

Total supply in United States
2,225,000
It thus appears that in lieu of a supply of
1,500,000 to 1,750,000 bales, very generally antici-
pated until quite recently, the supply reaches fully
two and a quarter million of bales, or 630,000
bales beyond the average estimate.
We are enabled to present our readers the result
of a very careful estimate of the tail supply of
cotton in the United States on Feb. 1, 1866. The
statistics have been compiled from a survey of the
stocks at the several points, under the auspices of a
number of manufacturers and merchants, and arc,
we understand, endorsed by the Secretary of the
Treasury, as approximating official estimates based
upon the reports of Treasury agents. The follow-
ing is the estimate

COTTON IN THE UNITED STATES ON THE IST DAY

OF FEBRUARY, 1866.

Bales.
Cotton in New York city 327,000
Cotton in other cities, viz.: Boston, Providence,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wilmington, Charles-
ton, Mobile, New Orleans, Florida, and other
Texas ports, St. Louis and other Mississippi
river ports
Estimated amount to come forward from the
interior. The estimates are made by commis-
sion merchants and others, who have agents
throughout the South where there is a proba-
bility of cotton being for sale

600,000

Total number of bales
The amount gone into consumption and exported
during the nine months from May 1, 1865, to Feb.
1, 1866, is thus shown :
Supply in the United States, May 1, 1865 1,255,000
Supply in the United States Feb. 1, 1866
Consumed and exported in nine months

778,000

Of a total supply, of 2,225,000 bales on May 1,
1865, we have up to February, 1866, shipped and
taken into consumption at home 788,000 bales, and
have 1,477,000 bales for supplying foreign
The home consumption and export combinedh
do-
mestic spinners until the new crop comes to amnarket.
Ist of
ave-
raged, for the nine months, ending the estock on
February, 87,555 bales per month i ;
England is largely
during the former
185,000 bales, which,
deductingyeld, f
rsoomo, 00..1,1 bales for
°att.,
eossre;pstot.: elski,
sixty
nyt
willhthaendpOratsft,er
average monthly supply of i
per cent. t.
Amtotrielethsaman
ethtieurnaieevefTtaogwe
1 stock held at the mills
stocked with cotton.
consumption of 12,000
average 3
of that section
bales,
upon an
is equal to .
with the
weeklys' su,l3;ly. ticare
the facts connected
.osibl to •
supply of cotton, as
1 e estimate. They show
nearly as it Is P
that our ina .
nufacturers, as well as those of England,
been acting under a grave hallucination as to
have
the stockisestimated
of cotton, and consequently as to its value.
it would be very unsafe to assume that already the
price has fallen to the level demanded by the dis-
covery of the actual supply. With a certain supply
of 2,500,000 bales from the next crop, and possibly
even a much larger amount, it is impossible that
current prices of raw cotton can be much longer
maintained.—New York Economist.

The Admiralty Court decided on Tuesday that
the steamer " Sumter" must be given up to the
United States Government. The history of this
notorious rover will not be forgotten by any
who were interested in the late rebellion. The
vessel was purchased in the year 1861 by
the so-called Confederate States, and, having been
armed and otherwiseequipped, proceeded to sea and
cruised in the 'West Indies and elsewhere, and
captured and burned numerous vessels belonging
to citizens of the United States. In the month of
January, 1862, she put into the port of Gibraltar,
where she was sold, and she was subsequently em-
ployed in running the blockade, in which service
she continued until the close of the war, when,
having put into Liverpool, she was arrested, and
proceedings were taken by the United States Go.
Terumtn.t yr ber recovery