The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-20 00:00:00

PROSPECTS OF THE COTTON TRADE.
(From the Manchester Examiner.)
The quietness which has characterised our market
during the last four weeks, the light stack of cotton,
its comparatively high price, and the uncertain and
conflicting accounts which are received of the Ame-
rican crop of this year, combine to produce no small
amount of forecast and anxiety.
The comparative amount of stock in the hands of
the trade at the present time and at the correspond-
ing period of last year cannot be told with any
degree of accuracy. On this point there has been
considerable diversity of opinion, but any difference
which may be in favour on either side cannot materially
affect our observations. The stocks it the various
ports of Great Britain, on the 31st of August, were
226,800 bales less than at the same period of 1849 ; and
supposing the amount of imports and the rate of con-
sumption to the 31st of December to be the same
as last year, there would not be more than 300 000
bales in stock at Christmas, or before the arrival of the
first of this year's crop; but, as late shipments from
America have been heavier this year than they were
last, and as the high prices prevailing here will have
the
.natural effect of drawing larger supplies from
Indea and other preducing countries than have been
sent in former years, it is probable the stock in this
country on the 31st of December will not be less than
400,000 bales. Yet this amount of stock would be
far from satisfactory, and it is to be feared would be
insufficient to prevent an advance in price, if not
counteracted by the hope of an average crop for this
year, and of a larger amount than that ventured to be
given in present estimates.
The accounts of the growing crop, although rather
more favourable than at an earlier period of the
season, are by no means encouraging. There can
scarcely be a doubt that more land is this year under
cultivation than has been the case in any former year,
but the reports of the condition of the plant and its
progress towards maturity are not equally favourable.
The recent fine weather, however, and the con-
tinually improving intelligence received by each
steamer, encourage the hope of a fair yield, and that
the picking season will not be later than in previous
years. The latest estimates of the crop have advanced
to 2,250,000, and it is possible that with a conti-
nuance of propitious weather and a late frost—as
happened for the last four years—they may shortly
rise to 2,300,000, or even 2,400,000. This is cer-
tainly a much more favourable view than has yet been
generally entertained, but it can scarcely be deemed
extravagant, if there be taken into consideration the
steady improvement in the tenor of late advices.
It will be asked what effects would a crop of this
amount have on the state of our market ?
With a stock of 400,000 bales on December 31, as
we have supposed, it is doubtful if a crop of the above-
mentioned extent would be more than sufficient to
supply the demand for next year ; and to confirm this
remark we have only to refer to the stock left on De-
cember 31, 1849, after the receipt of the largest supply
ever received into this country.
In the home market the cheapness of food has led
to an enlarged consumption of manufactured goods
among the working classes, and the satisfactory ac-
counts which reach us of the results of this year's
harvest will have the same tendency. Indeed, we
are already told of the great activity which has for
some time pervaded this branch of our trade. From
the continent of Europe and the United States of
America, the favourable accounts of the operations of
harvest lead to the expectation that, for the supply
of these markets, there will be increased demands for
our manufactures, and there is little reason to fear
that in India, South America, and other foreign mar-
kets, there is any large accumulation of stock to meet
their necessary and continuous consumption.
It may not be out of place to remark here that,
though the amounts of yarns and goods exported
during the first six months of this year were nearly
the same as in the first six months of last, there was
a falling off in the exports to the ports on the Medi-
teranean of about 6,000,0001 b. of yarn, and of about
45,000,000 yards of goods ; or ten per cent. of the
whole exports of yarn, and seven per cent. of that of
goods. Thisfalling off was doubtless owing to the heavy
stocks held there, and which had accumulated during
the early part of last year, and for some time before.
Now that these markets are getting cleared, should
there Le an increase of trade to that quarter, it will
be in a heavy class of goods, and therefore lead to the
manufacture of coarse fabrics, and the use of a con-
sequently larger quantity of the raw material.
It would be premature, and perhaps out of place, to
offer any opinion respecting the future state of our
market. No one can be ignorant of the tendency of
high prices, such es those now prevailing, to weaken
the confidence of the merchant, to limit his operations,
to lessen the means of the consumer, and therefore
to restrict the trade of the district ; but, on the
other hens, the favourable results of the home and
foreign harvest, the prospect of peace prevailing
abroad, and, above all, the happy results of free trade,
evidently now beginning to be fully felt, favour an in-
crease of consumption and of export much beyond
that of any former year. While, therefore, uneers
taint.), with respect to the supply of cotton for next
year Inv lead to bujers withholding the execution of
their orders, to a pause in the operation of our market,
and a consequent decline, yet it is pr,,bable that—
orders accumulating, end the home as well as foreign
demand steady, if not increasing—the tone of the
market will improve, prices in general advance, and in
a short time the reaction be quite proportionate to the
immediate depression.
It may be h...z irding no very extreme opinion to
remark, that it is quite possible the e ffects of free
trade, under average circumstances, will lead to an
extension of our trade hey and precedent ; but it may
be questioned if the supply of cotton from America
will be in the same ratio. If not, it will at once be
seen that the profits arising from a large trade and a
steady demand will be mainly absorbed by the cotton-
growers. If, then, one circumstance connected with
the trade of this district more than another demands
the serious consideration of those interested in its suc-
cess, it is the devising and supporting of all reasonable
schemes to promote the cultivation of cotton in other
countries, to procure a steady and increasing supply
for our own use, and to that extent to lessen our de-
pendence on the fluctuating crops of the United States
of America.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ELECTION.
CAMBRIDGE, SEPT. 19.—The only point worthy
of note here to-day is the adhesion of the following
gentlemen to Mr. Wigram's committee, via, the Rev.
the Master of Caius College (Dr. Chapman); Dr.
Paget and Dr. Dro*ier (Senior Fellows), of Caius
College ; Mr. l3urdakin (Fellow and Tutor), of C are
lldll ; and Mr. Swainson (Fellow and Tutor), of
Christ College. Mr. Wigram's friends retort upon
their opponents the charge of disturbing the peace of
the University, and they avow that from the first
they have merely desired to secure the services of the
hest men that can be found to represent the Univer-
sity, and that they have simply that object in view
now.

The harvest, not merely in this. locality, but
throughout the Lowlands of Scotland, may be considered
finished, and is generally admitted to be fully an average.
Wheat, of which only,a small quantity has yet been thrash&,
is turning out remarkably well ; and barley is a full crop.
The reports as to oats are more contradictory. Potatoes
continue sound, and are considered safe for the Beason. The
yield, however, will not be great ; and turnips will not be
above half a crop. The continued dry weather has given to
-turnip-fields an appearance of maturity quite unusual at this
period of the season. 'Since the above was in type, we have
received the following very unfavourable account of the po-
tato crop from a farmer a few miles west of Edinburgh :
" I am sorry to say that the potato disease has appeared on
my farm very virulently, many of the 'shows not having
one sound potato at them. On the farm of a neighbour the
disease has likewise appeared. This is the more wonderful,
as till very lately rot one vestige of its presence could be no-
ticed in this quarter."—Scoisman.
AN ECCENTRIC CLI kRACTER.—The owner of con-
siderable property, as well as a resident in the parish of
West Ham, has a peculiar monomania for empty houses, and
he has a great number which have not been occupied for
years, the rents of which, if let, would amount to several
hundred pounds per annum, and yet, strange to say, the
owner's habits are of the most penurious kind. A person
applying to him for one of his houses must have the follow-
ing qualifications, and comply with the following rules :
Have a wife and a large family, never smoke, or keep birds,
or place flower-pots on the window-sills; and should any
person by misrepresentation obtain possession of any house
legal proceedings are immediately taken to eject. the occu-
pant. It is said that his lawyers' and builders' bills are two
items in his expenses which he pays most liberaPy. lie has
the carpet for each of his sitting-rooms in his own dwelling,
but they are invariably kept folded up, as he says to preserve
them.—Esser Herald.

ANOTHER. SHAICSPERE PORTRAIT. -- A painting
was submitted to us last week which, if note a genuine
portrait of our immortal Shakspere, an assertion we would
not venture to make, is, at all events, an interesting picture.
It is well painted ; has a fine expression of countenance, with
a beard and moustache, as in the Chardos and the Jansen
portraits, and rings in the ears.
The canvass, unquestionably
old, has not been lined. On the top of the picture appear in
raised letters, rudely formed with the mallet-knife and a com-
position of some tort, Galiebno .Shakspere, painted over
with the field of the picture. Below the name, on the left-
hand side of the bead, is 47 ; and on the right-hand
side, A.D. 1611. The picture belongs to Dr. Parkes, of
Great Marlborough-street, in whose possession it has been
for sonic years unregarded, until a few days ago.— Builder.
Some Belgian savants were engaged the day before
yesterday in making meteorological observations on the
heighti f Belleville. flawing raised to a certain height some
kites furnished with pointed nee lies, they drew frcm tl
clouds, although the weather was perfectly serene at the
time, flashes of electricity similar to those of lightning in a
storm. Suddenly one of the gentlemen, says the Patric, was
struck by a flash, and thrown to the ground in a state of in-
sensibility. lie had, it appeared, neglected to hold by the
glass handle, which served as a non-conductor, and the fluid,
descending by the cord, struck him. lie was soon after re-
stored to animation, but his light arm remains paralysed,
and there is a doubt whether he will ever recover the perfect
use of it.

The Bishop of London has licensed the Rev. G. F.
De Gex, ALA., to the curacy of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge.
The Bishop of Norwich has instituted the Rev. B.
J. Armstrong, M.A., to the vicarage of East Derebam.
A new church was consecrated at Roraford yest.er.,
day by the Bishop of Rochester,