The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-29 00:00:00

THE COTTON TRADE.

The sales of cotton for the week, as made up on
Thursday evening, amount to 145,810 bales, of
which speculators have taken 82,090, exporters
12,860, and spinners 50,860 bales. ?fere is another
large week recorded, greatly swelled by the opera-
tions of speculators, but in which spinners have also
liberally supplied their necessities. These large
purchases are the offspring of increased confidence
in the staple, from the thorough conviction that, for
a while at least, we shall be deprived of the Ameri-
can crop of the present year, as the continued
blockade of the ports is. not only resolved upon by
the North ; but the South, so far, have shown equal
determination to retain the cotton on the plan-
tations, so that for all purposes of use to us at
present it might as well never have been grown.
Hereafter it may exercise a very important in-
fluence, but, in the meantime, every one believes
that will be after his stocks have been all sold. The
effect of this is seen in the great advance in prices
that has taken place during the week, the largest,
in fact, that has been witnessed this year, or for
some time previously, the improvement in American
descriptions being Id. to Ilb. per lb. ; Surats, jcl. to
; Brazil, d.;I and Egyptian, Id. per lb. It is
many years since prices reached the point at which
they have now arrived, New Orleans middling be-
ing quoted in yesterday's circular ls. per pound ;
and, high as this figure is, there are many who seem
to think it is yet some distance below the top price
that will be sure to be reached before the cotton is
released from the American ports. It may be so ;
there is no reasoning against it—in fact reasoning
is all the other way ; but the state of Affairs in
America is in such an unexpected, unprecedented
position, that we know not whether a change as
sudden as the outbreak will not take place, or that
with prices such as are now ruling some means may
not be found of getting cotton to this side of the
Atlantic. This, of course, no one believes, or the
market would not be in its present buoyant state,
at what may be termed starvation prices ; yet, look-
ing at the height to which we have ascended, were
a change to take place in the feelings of the belli-
gerents, or were the least expectation of such an
event to receive a tangible form, what a serious de-
cline might immediately be expected to follow.
With middling cotton at Bd. a short time since few
would purchase, while now that it has been raised
to ls. everyone seems anxious to be a holder, and so
long as this feeling lasts prices of necessity must
continue advancing. The India markets are again
moving upward in reply to the commencement of
our rise here. This is a movement in the right direc-
tion, but prices have scarcely yet advanced there
sufficiently to leave a profit on the stock of goods
and the shipments on their way, and have to move
upward with an accelerated pace to meet the higher
cost of production. On the ether hand, the very
favourable monsoon must tend to produce so desi-
rable a result from the natural increase of consump-
tion an d wealth that ord in arily follows it. The follow-
ing are the comparative prices of the three descrip-
tions of American fair and middling cotton, as
quoted yesterday, and at the corresponding period
of last year, with the imports and estimated stocks
of all descriptions :

1861. 1860.
Fair. Middling. Fair. Middling.
New Orleans 121 d. 12d. .. 71d. 6,1 d. per lb.
Mobile
Uplands l2;ld. 114 d. „

Stocks at commence-
ment of each year . , 545,679 .. 441,710 bake
Imported since Jan. 1 2,614,542 2,839,131
Stocks, Oct. 25
American 321,520 .. 558,900 „
Surat 259,840 .. 128,300 ~

Brazil
24,010 .. 13,410 „
Egyptian
West Indian, &c. 2,350 .. 480 „

Totals
Cotton at sea : 4
From America.. — a , 30,000 ~
From India

Totals

FOOD -RF,SOURCES OF THE SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY.

"A person well acquainted with the Confederate
States" sends to the Economist some facts and
figures to show the " utter absurdity" of supposing
that the South can be starved out.

The little State of South Carolina produces five-
sixths of the rice crop of America, and more wheat
than all the New England States together. She
produces as much Indian corn as New York and
more than all the New England States.
In 1860, South Carolina's production of corn was
20,000,000 bushels. Her potatoes, bean and pea
crops, are very large, usually exceeding by 1,000,000
bushels that of Maine. According to the latest
statistics, South Carolina further produces more
peas 'and beans by 180,000 bushels than all the
Northern States together, New York alone excepted
—more beef cattle than Pennsylvania by 1,740, and
almost as many as all the New England States to-
gether—more sheep than lowa and Wisconsin by
10,699—m0re hogs than New York by 17,254, more
hogs than Pennsylvania by 25,137, and 86,000 more
than all the New England States, and New Jersey,
Michigan, and Wisconsin together. Sbe produces
10,000 more horses and mules than Maine, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island toge-
ther.
So much for the food resources of South Carolina
alone.
According to the last census (therettuhtroanngseotythfh.
North ewerhgpricehat,
although for several months in the possession of the
rginia,
Government at Washington, are withheld from the
pro-
ducepubl Virginiai2c)4,l,ooo
bushels
ofNorthh
w e
wheat
Carolina
more
produce
wheat-growing
Carolina,
and State
Tennessee of N New ilk
bushels of wheat, a quantity r 115,471,593
exceeding
bushels the :aggregate production of N
Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, by
ew3olo,ooroho,
Mas-
sachussette, New Hampshire, Connecticut,
Vermont, and Maine.
Tennessee alone produces 16,506 more hogs than all
the six New England States, along with New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, lowa, and Michigan ;
for that State (Tennessee) produces 3,104,010 hogs,
while the eleven above-mentioned Northern States
produce but 3,086,503.
Many people have supposed that the North was
the great hog-producing section of the States' but
such is not the fact. The whole number of hogs
produced in 1850 was 30,316,608, of which the slave
holding States furnished 20,770,700, or more than
two-thirds of the entire swine production.
Another equally remarkable fact is, that the cot-
ton States produced in 1850 more beef cattle than
the six New England States, New York, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Michigan, and
Winconsin together.
States
ttle than
Lastly, in 1860, all the slave-holding p
morea horses and
slave-holding States, and 260,000 ll th o
n
duced 1,782,887 more beef ca orn:

mules.
The foregoing facts and figures should materially
modify the erroneous impression which so generally
pr®v as to the food resources of the Confederate
States.

----
CARICATURING IN FRANCE.—The Charivari pub-
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of
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()isthrransdevccernyieto some understand-
f remaining. armed in this way on
viti.c.at ifi
want to lay aside my rifled cannon,
and underaioafmratyhsgo,eauibtisegoahttphtirr.aiesratmli
and all this warlike preparation,
dust 1" grizling me to,