The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-05 00:00:00

STATE OF TRADE.

MANCHESTER, March 4.—ln our brief report of
the yarn and cloth market it was mentioned that
business opened flatly at a further reduction of id.
to id. per lb. on the prices of last week, but that
later on, owing to telegrams from Liverpool, buyers
had shown a desire to close with offers which they
had at first declined to give. It may be further
mentioned that towards the close of the day this
movement became more general, and developed
into a general inquiry, and led to large offers being
made, especially for India fabrics, at prices which
could not be obtained even on Friday last. In some
cases considerable orders were accepted under these
circumstances, but the anticipation of a still higher
prices for cotton caused manufacturers to reject a
larger business than that which was accomplished.
Great excitement in the Liverpool cotton market
to-day, with a rise in prices, is producing a similar
result here, but it is checking business. Manufac-
turers have greatly advanced their quotations or
entirely withdrawn their goods, and this is restrict-
ing business. At the same time buyers are freely
offering an advance of 3d. per piece on the rates ob-
tainable yesterday. There is a feeling, however,
that the activity and excitement here, as well as
that at Liverpool, is of a speculative character, and
that but little of it arises from a bona fide demand
for any description of goods. Messrs. Ellison and
Heywood, of Liverpool, in their monthly circular
of Monday, animadvert with a good deal of justice
on the conduct of spinners and manufacturers,
which led to the great speculation and rise in cotton
some three weeks ago, and which is now being re-
newed :—" To a great extent spinners have only
themselves to blame for the late inflation in values
—for speculators did not enter the field until the
major part of the advance had taken place. Some
advance upon the low rates current at the beginning
of the year was quite justified by the statistical posi-
tion of the staple ; but if spinners had only displayed
that caution and circumspection which guided their
dealings during the previous year, we should neither
have witnessed the intense excitement, nor the ex-
traordinary advance, of the past month. The mis-
take made by the trade was in accepting large
orders for forward delivery—orders which in the
majority of cases absorbed by anticipation the pro-
ducts of three or four months' work at full time, and
which necessitated correspondingly extensive pur-
chases in this market to cover, especially when it
became apparent that prices were tending upwards.
No doubt, after a long period of comparatively dull
trade, during which they had almost in vain begged
and prayed for orders, the temptation to accept
them when offered was too great to be withstood,
especially as they were offered at a time when the
current opinion on both sides of the Atlantic was
that the American crop would be nearer three than
2} million bales. Three months ago (the 30th of
November), foreseeing the danger which threatened
the trade, we observed :—' In view of the compara-
tively small supplies available for consumption fur
the next two months, spinners will act wisely if
they reduce their operations within as narrow limits
as possible both here and in Manchester. Prices
have fallen to so low a point that the acceptance of
contracts of any magnitude, based upon the antici-
pation of a further considerable decline in the value
of the raw material, would be far more hazardous
than discreet.' Nor were we alone in our admoni-
tions ; similar advice was heard on all Wes, and,
strange to say, spinners and manufacturers were
themselves among the loudest of the monitors. It
is to be hoped, however, that they will henceforth
profit by the lemon which they htwe receiyed. Most