The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-03-07 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR. OP THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SIR,—At the present time, when provisions of all sorts
are so high in price, parties having but scanty incomes are
necessarily induced to watch narrowly the state of the
markets, and I for one have been an anxious inquirer as
to the state of the markets for corn and flour. The obser-
vation I have made enables me to see that the wholesale
rates of both those articles have fallen very considerably
within the last month, but I have been unable to discover
any reduction in the retail price of flour or bread. This is
the more singular, from the fact, that the slightest rise was
promptly followed—indeed, in some instances, anticipated
—by a rise in the price of both bread and flour.
Fair play is a jewel ; and, if we are to suffer from a rise
in prices, surely we should not be precluded from all the
advantages to be derived from their fall.—l am, Sir,
A HOUSEHOLDER.
Liverpool, 6th March, 1854.

Fius.—About six o'clock on Saturday evening, a beam
under a room belonging to Mrs. Davies' public-house,
Union-street, was discovered to be ignited. The West of
England engine and the reel from Temple-court were
quickly on the spot, and the fire was soon extinguished.
As the West of England engine an
As were return-
ing from Union-street, they, received information of a fire
having broken out in a public-house, Maguire-street.
They proceeded at once and found that the top room floor
was almost entirely burnt, and the furniture &c. damaged
by water. Both the above fires occurred through beams
running into the chimney.—About a quarter to nine the
same evening a fire also happened on board the brig Robert
Preston. The cabin was seriously damaged, and the cargo,
which consisted of brandy, fortunately escaped. The reel
from Temple-court, under Sergeant Holden, and the West
of England engine, under Mr. Barrett, were quickly on
the spot, and the fire was soon extinguished.
A LITERARY CIIRIOSITY.—The following is a verbatim
copy. of a letter, written in a tolerably neat hand, and
received a day or two ago, by an emigration house in this
town, from an intending emigrant :—" Dear sir, itock this
opertunitay of senden a fu lines to you to infarm mee
whin ther is a vesal goan to sideney and wat stearig pasag
woud be and to send mee a rould of what i shaud ave
fiting for the voiag south, as cloathing and previshon, as
it may tack mee a fu days to get what iwhant or off theris
one goan to milbbnrin befor theris to sidney iwould goa
assoone ther as to sidney of inue the rates of the pasage
and what it woud bee far theris 4 of hus goang out with
the help of god. as some as we get a nanswer from you
and i hoap you will send mee the hoal aeount and pertie-
kelars of what ishoud do. theris a fu moar of ny neabours
intends to go to. wheniget ananser back from you as soone
as you send mee the hoal rrtielculers as soon as we will
get recley souccoar i Franco gßui, cattle daler,

COMMERCIAL 4 MONETARY NEWS

MONDAY NIGHT.

THE money market during the week has presented
few features worthy of notice, the Funds being
slightly affected by the increasing probability of
war ; but, otherwise, prices have been fairly main-
tained, the great source of strength being the
growing opinion that the preparations which are
being carried on with such vigour will be effectual
for the successful prosecution of hostilities. The
bank returns in the London Gazette on Friday
also possessed little interest. The stock of bullion
had increased £32,852, and there was also an in-
crease both in the public and " other" deposits.
For commercial purposes money has been in fair
demand, but without any material alteration in the
rate of discount. The amount of acceptances due
on Saturday, the 4th of the month, was unprece-
dently large, but everything passed off well.
In the manufacturing markets business has been
dull, but without any alteration of prices, except
in some descriptions of Yarns, which have been
about *d. per lb. lower. Cloths of the better
descriptions are also lower, owing chiefly to the
diminished demand, the unsettled state of political
affairs tending to discourage speculation. In the
Lace and Hosiery trades some improvement has
commenced, but the advance is not to any great
extent. In the Woollen districts there appears to
be no change. Prices remain steady, so that the
trade may be considered in a satisfactory condition.
The returns of the Board of Trade for the month
ended the sth of February, show a decrease in
the expo trade amounting in the aggregate to
£368,74 .. The falling off is, of course, attributed
to the pre arations for war ; but it must be evident
that the maintenance of the spirit of last year was
hardly probable. The decrease is on most of the
more important items, the chief being Cotton
Manufactures, £324,378 ; Metals, £83,399 ; Beer,
£34,481; Cotton Yarn, £31,383 ; Woollen Manu-
factures, £25,331 ; Earthenware, £24,940 ; and
Linen Manufactures, £12,957. Upon some few
articles there appears an increase, the principal be-
ing Haberdashery, £128,812; Hardware, £35,447;
Leather, £20,995 ; and Sationery, £14,561. The
amount of foreign articles taken for home con-
sumption during the month also shows a falling off,
with some few exceptions, as will be seen by the
following :

1853. 1854.
Wheat, quarters
Other Grain
'Tinian Corn 95,925 .. 98,649
Flour and Meal, cwt 303,752 .. 847,880
Butter and Cheese, cwt 47,626 .. 53,922
Eggs, No.
Cocoa, lb 352,578 .. 520,827
Coffee ...
Sugar
Tea, lb 4,403,982 .. 4,027,610
Rice, cwt.
Spirits, gallons 456,032 .. 485,119
Wines, gallons 617.583 .. 578.945
Opium, lb. 6,835 .. 6.974
Tobacco. lb 2,662,435 .. 2,692,575
Currants, Figs, and Rai-
sins, cwt
Spices, lb.
Ditto, cwt.

22,461 .. 16,901
101,652 .. 427,920
307 .. 350

Of raw materials for manufactures, the compara-
tive imports and exports show a decrease in every
article but Tallow :

Exported.
1853. 1854.

Imported.
1853. 1854.
Flax, cwt
Hemp, cwt 21,477 8,280
Raw Silk, lb 818,638 815,577 30,585 43,900
Cotton, cwt...., 398,301 317,022 36,547 44,184
Wool, lb.
Tallow, cwt 40,481 50,013

As regards the Shipping Trade, there were 1756
vessels employed in the Foreign trade, with a
tonnage of 530;619- entered inwards ; of which 1498
were sailing. vessels, with 448,668 tonnage, and
258 steam-vessels, with 81,951 tonnage ; whilst
in the corresponding month of 1853 the number
was 2261, with a tonnage of 457,154. There
cleared outwards 1781 ships, 434,350 tonnage, of
which 1536 were sawing vessels, with 347,200 ton-
nage, and 245 steam-vessels, with 87,150 tonnage ;
whilst in the corresponding month 0f.1853 there
were 1824 ships, 505,438 tonnage.
In the Coasting Trade, 8196 vessels, 884,015
tonnage, entered inwards, 6959 being sailing ves-
sels, with 583,492 tonnage, and 1237 steam-ves-
sels, 300,523 tonnage; and 10,059 ships, 1,060,237
tonnage, cleared outwards, of which 8822. were
sailing vessels, with 770;241 tonnage, and: 1237
steam-vessels, 289,996 tonnage ; in the correspond-
ing month of 1853 the numbers were—ships
10,808, tonnage 1,085,015, and ships 10;62:ton-
nage 1,026,571.
We give the following extract from Messrs. T.
and H. LITTLEDALE and Co.'s monthly circular—
" It is a great satisfaction to observe how little effect
the present warlike position• of affairs has on prices of
Colonial and other ProdUce, and though operations are
much curtailed, buyers and sellers appear to stand. still by
mutual consent : there-is no pressure to realise; and little
or nothing- doing on speculation—operations are chiefly
confined to the daily wants of the. trade; but such is the
sound, healthy state of imports, that this tartly position
of business excites no impatience or mistrust—the cause
is evident, and the effect is quietly submitted to.
" War between the Western Powers and the haughty
Czar would now seem: certain ; but yet, the madness of
such a project, should Austria and Prussia stand firm to
their present professions, almost forbids us to believe it
possible—that one power hitherto considered the most
politic and far seeing—not only pacific herself, but claim-
ing credit for compelling other nations to be so too—
should now rush headlong into war against the whole of
Europe, the five great powers being determinately and
actively engaged in hostilities against her to the certain
destruction of her commerce and her naval power—seems
to admit of but one solution, that her despotic ruler is
insane, or surely he will yet find a way to escape the
severe judgment that must otherfise most justly fall upon
him."
From Glasgow it is *fed that the house of
Dickson and Co., whose failure was announced on
Saturday, was comparatively a new one. They
were Australian merchants, and their difficulties
are attributed to the heavy nature of their ship-
ments to Melbourne and Sydney. In some advices
their liabilities, originally estimated at between
£300,000 and £400,000, are said not to exceed
£200,000.
The directors of the General Screw Steam-
shipping Company are about to recommend to their
shareholders the immediate abandonment of the.
Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, and Cal-
cutta mail packet line, and the forfeiture of the
contract with the Admiralty for carrying on this
service. It appears that the present high price of'
fuel and the insufficiency of remuneration for the
postal service, together with the refusal of the
Admiralty to consent to any modification of the
company's contract, are the chief reasons which
have induced the directors to recommend that the
operations of their steamers on this route should
be at once brought to a termination. They have,
however, consented to despatch the Propontis on
the 14th instant from Southampton, and the voy-
age of this steamer will, it is understood, be the
last one to be made to the Cape of Good Hope and
Indian ports. Following upon the breaking up of
this line, the company have determined to com-
mence an efficient steam communication with
Australia, and have contracted with the Admiralty
to provide an alternate monthly mail between
Southampton, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney.
The ships will go direct to Melbourne, a smaller
steamer, the Bosphorus, being employed in running
to Adelaide, and, perhaps, to King George's Sound.
Under the terms of this arrangement the remune-
ration of the company is dependent upon the
postage earned by their steamers both outward,
homeward, and intercolonial. The Queen of the
South will be the first ship to start, and is to leave
on the 4th of April. It is very probable that a
monthly line will be kept up.
Our SHIRE MARKET has continued inactive
throughout the week, and prices have declined one
or two per, cent. all round. This is partly the
result of a little over-speculation, induced by the
scarcity of stock at the last settlement, to which
however must be added some small amount of
selling in apprehension of war and the war budget
of this evening. The traffics continue most satis-
factory. We annex this day's prices —Blackburn,
5 5-16 ; Caledonians, 27 71 ; Lancashire and
Yorkshire, 661 1 6 2. 1 ; Leeds Northern
131; London Stock, 1011 1001 1 1c 4 ; Sheffield
Stock, 21+ 4 ; Midland Stock, 6011- 1 s 1 12 ii;
1 -R.; North British, 81; Dover Stock, 18 9-161,
York, Newcastle and Berwick, 17.
COTTON.—The demand from the trade has been
but moderate during the week, and the sales have,
in consequence, been limited, the account for the
week up to Friday amounting to only 31,720 bales,
of which 26,250 were taken by spinnera, and 5,470
on speculation and for export. The advices brought
by the Pacific on Thursday, of an increase in price
on the other side the Atlantic, had the effect of
strengthening the market here, without, however,
leading to any advance in value.—To-nly the sales
amounted to between 5,000 and 6,000 bales, and
the market closed firmly without any alteration in
prices. The following is a comparison of the pre-
sent rates with those of the corresponding period
of last year :

1863. 1864.
New Orleans, middling 611-16 d. 613-16 d.
fair 6ld. 64d.
Uplands, middling... 5 9-16 d. 611-16 d.
fair 6d. ad.

PRODUCE.—The markets during the week have
been comparatively quiet. Sugar has been in fhir
demand, at fUll prices, Coffee, dull, Ju Rico little