The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-05-11 00:00:00

FINANCIAL. AND COMMERCIAL SUMMARY.

The tightness off the money market still continues, and
the difficulty felt in, procuring discounts has even increased,
especially in the manufacturing districts and throughout
the provinces generally. The best paper, except at short
dates, is almost useless ; and, as the result, commercial
operations are almost suspended, and in the manufacturing
districts, in particular, matters are approaching a very
serious crisis. It is said, however, that the Bank of Eng-
land is disposed and will .shortly be in a position to afford
assistance, which will relieve all parties. But there will
still remain the difficulty for the cotton manufacturer to
surmount—that as the money pressure is relaxed, the raw
material will be forced up beyond the point at which it can
be worked up remuneratively. At present, the difficulty of
holding and the worldng..of short time alone prevents its
reaching an extravagant price; and although the Bank of
England has set its face resolutely against discounting any
bills which are based upon cotton speculations, it is not
easy to see by what means other paper can be taken off the
market, without the speculator being strengthened in his
position.

- The stock of bullion still continues to decline. The
issue department of the Bank has decreased £42,550 within
the last week, the stock being now £8,506,585. In the
banking department the stock is-now 4).1.31,131, being an
increase since the last account of £166,361.
To relieve the commence of the country generally, ap-
peals have been made to-government to relax the strin-
gency of the operation of the bank act of 1844, by which
the hands of that body are tied up.; and there can be
little doubt that. some interference of this sort will be
found necessary. But we- suspect that the Chancellor of
the Exchequer and the Premier have imbibed an impres-
sion of the difficulty referred tonbove which the specula-
tion has thrown in the way. The following incident in
proof of this is given by the London. Standard as having
occurred at the interview with government of the Liver-
pool deputation, last week:—
"One rather graphic account has indeed been allowed to
transpire, respecting the interview which the Liverpool deputa-
tion had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Atter hearing
all they had to say in the usual courteous manner which
ministers of state receive all such deputations, the right honor-
able gentleman inquired of one of the members who had made
himself conspicuous in preferring the complaint, if their house
was not a considerable holder of cotton? The answer was,
"The largest holders in. Liverpool."—When the Chancellor
quickly rejoined, "Then the best advice I can give you is to re-
turn home and sell it." Whatever view may be taken upon
this subject in Liverpool,_the advice of the Chancellor is con-
sidered sound and orthcrdox in London, notwithstanding that
the right honourable gentleman is no very special favourite in
the city."

What amount of truth there may be in this "graphic
account," we are not at present prepared to say but
that little sympathy,is felt towards parties placed is diffi-
culty by speculative operations may be gathered from the
following remarks of the city correspondent of the London
Times of Saturday

" With regard to the Liverpool deputation yesterday, the
members of which.are alleged to have founded their application
for assistance on the peril to arise from the general closing of
the mills in Lancashire, a correspondent shrewdly remarks
that to establishtheir claims it would be desirable. for these
parties to furnish.evidence that there are no other steps than
such as they propose by which the present pressure can be met.
so as to avert the threatened stoppage of. employment. When
people seek for remedies against any existing evils it must
always be on the condition that they shall have previously tried
all the means. of extrication within their own reach, and con-
sequently we are entitled to ask those who clamour for such
an extraordinary alteration in the existing order of things as
would be involved in the creation of " cheap money," if they
have first .used every method ordinarily open to them for the
supply of their wants. The questions, therefore, to the mem-
bers of the Liverpool deputation would be, "Have you ex-
hausted all your available resources, and do you hold no stocks
of any kind which you could with facility turn into money ?"
If the answer to this is not in the negative, then it is clear that
in asking for aid they are merely asking for aid to assist them
in a speculative holding of certain articles, whatever they
may be, in order to get better prices hereafter, and it is,
in fact, suggested that circumstances of this kind really
prevail, and that it is by no means improbable that all
[ the parties in Liverpool who are now most anxious for
extraordinary supplies of money would be found to have
overlooked the itact that they are large holders of cotton,
and that by a sale of this article they might easily relieve
their wants, and this in a more legitimate manner than at the
expense of the nation, which would be the case in the event of
Government interference. And here it is asserted we arrive at
one essential cause of the closing of the mills. It is believed
that if the manufacturers of Manchester could get their sup-
plies of raw material at a lower rate, such as under the present
prospect of a continued drain of gold, and, consequently, of
dear money for two or three years to come, together with the
aspect of foreign import markets, might seem to warrant the
expectation of a fair return,_ they would immediately resume
their operations, but that the price of cotton is at present so
high as to render that step undesirable. It is evident, there-
fcre, that any interference that would protract this state of
things would, so far from benefiting the Lancashire poor, prove
utterly destructive to them, because simultaneously with an
increase of circulation cotton would rise in proportion, so that
the only effect upon the manufacturer would be to render it
still more perilous for him to lay up stocks than it is at the
present moment, inasmuch as in all questions of this kind,
cheapness of production and the consequent temptation to
foreigners must constitute the grand element of safety. This
is consequently the condition which, if we would see our mills
again at work, it should be our sole object to promote; but
unfortunately it is one h'ch, if we rightly understand there,
would be entirely extinguished by the "remedial" measures of
the Liverpool deputation."

Such writers, however, put out of sight the very impor-
tant fact that, from the short supply of cotton, the re-
sumption of the week by the manufactures must of itself
produce the high prices, in expectation of which specula-
tors are holding, and without a prospect of which it will
not, as may be seen from the last accounts from America,
be sent from the country where it is grown.
Our Cotton market during the week has been much de-
pressed by the necessity of some parties to sell ; and we
may note a decline at the close of the week of 4d. per lb.
below the price of Friday se'nnight. The sales have been
27,070 bales, of which 24,000 were for consumption.
There is no improvement to note in the manufacturing
districts. Buyers operate very sparingly ; and a reduction
of the present low prices is only prevented by the short
production. An additional item of difficulty has pre-
sented itself in the turnout of three large factories (two in
Manchester and one in Droylesden) to resist an attempted
reduction of wages ; and it is greatly feared that serious
consequences may result, and possible danger to the peace
of the district, especially if other employers follow the ex-
ample of reducing during the present high prices of food.
The short time movement continues.

Of 1252 factories in Lancashire, including Stockport
and Staylybridge, 6,13 are working full time, 515 short
time, and 134 stopped working entirely. Of the number
of hands employed in the above, in all 259,688, the num-
ber working full time is 132,153, those working short
time 102,973, and stopped altogether 24,562. In Man-
chester itself, out of a total of 177 mills of all kinds, 102
are working full time, 24 short time, and 21 stopped.
The number of hands working full time are 22,988, short
time 11,612, stopped 6,235. The distress caused amongst
the population throughout the district is painted as most
lamentable.

The important statement made in the House of Corn-
mons on Friday night, by the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, has had the effect of carrying the value of Exchequer
Bills to a premium, and they are now quoted par to 5 pm.
It appears that it is the intention of the Treasury autho-
rities to advance the rate of interest on all these securities
to 3d., whether due in June or not, with a view of render-
ing them marketable and available in monetary concerns.
Sir C. Wood also proposes to ask for an allowance of dis-
count on scrip, to remedy, we suppose, the error he first
made when the loan was negotiated, and to induce the
public to pay in advance. It is gratifying to state th the
payments of revenue have been greater the last few days,
and that a prospect exists of the Government not seeking
for the present increased advances on deficiency bills.
On Friday the Bank gave notice to the brokers at the
Stock Exchange, that Exchequer bills would be received
as deposits against advances at the rate of five per cent.
for one fortnight, which at once brought them up for Bs.
discount to par. It was then fully anticipated that the
Chancellor was prepared to make the proposition stated,
and which seems is to be taken into the consideration of
the House on Monday. The third instalment payable on
the loan on Friday was greatly facilitated by the general
disposition manifested on the part of the Bank to afford
all the accommodation they could to the monied interest.
Gold at last begins to flow into the coffers of that esta-
blishment, and arrivals this week to the extent of £400,000
are reported.
There appears at present little prospect of the imme-
diate approach of the only consummation which can re-
store the cotton and other manufactures to their wonted
prosperity, viz.: such a demand as will enable the manu-
facturer to secure an advance in the price of his fabrics
corresponding with the advance on the raw material.
The advices from India by the Overland mail brought
most disheartening accounts; and although there is a fair
prospect of orders from the United States, which, when
the state of the money market will allow us to procure
discounts at reasonable rates will produce some activity,
yet there are a few manufacturers who are sanguine enough
to believe that their position is likely to be materially im-
proved for some months to come at least.

The recent advance in the corn market is fully main-
tained, 425. to 425. 6d. being the quotation in Liverpool
for Western Canal Flour; and there appears to be every
probability of a further advance, in part owing to the in-
creasing demand from Europe, and the supply in America
not proving sufficient to meet the heavy drain made upon
it. At present the stocks on hand in all the principal
ports are nearly exhausted, and freights can only be pro-
cured at 4s. per barrel, or one-half of what was freely
paid a few weeks previous to the dates of the last arrival.
A good harvest at home and throughout Europe is all that
we have to look to for the reduction of our present high
prices.

HEALTH AND MORTALITY IN 117 DISTRICTS
OF ENGLAND, FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF
1847: •

The quarterly return of the Registrar General on this
subject has just been published, and forms a large pamph-
let of 30 pages, full of interesting statistics. From its
voluminous nature we can find space for only the princi-
pal facts, and especially those of our locality and its
neighbourhood.
The population of the whole of the districts was at the
time of the last census (1841) 6,612,800. For many years
the mortality had been highest in the winter quarter, and
lowest in the summer. But the summer quarter of 1846
was the reverse, the mortality having been greater than it
had been for any quarter of the seven preceding years. In
the last winter quarter, the deaths in all England and
Wales were about 120,000, or 6035 above the corrected
average. In 1840, 1841, 1845, and 1846, the mortality
was considerably above the average in the winter quarters
(ending 31st March) ; and much below the average of the
same quarters in 1839, 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1846. The
lowness of the temperature, and the severity of the wea-
ther, was one cause of the increased mortality, causing in-
flammation of the lungs, typhus, &c. The high prices of
provisions is also mentioned. The deaths in the March
quarters of 1846 and 1847 were, in Birmingham 876 and
1187 ; in Liverpool 1934 and 3068 ; Preston 566 and 813 ;