The Sun. — 1846-03-06 (London, England)

CHINA. (From the Overland Friend of China, Dec. 31.)  In local affairs we notice the land sales first. On the 12th instant 52 lots were put up to public competition, without any condition as to building in a certain time, as was the former custom. There was therefore an inducement held out to speculate, but the buyers showed no disposition to run the lots up, and they were chiefly purchased at a few shillings advance upon the upset price. Of 52 lots offered, 43 were sold; for the others there were no bidders. Very few Europeans attended the sale; and, with the exception of three or four lots, there was little competition. At the sale of December last year, the advance upon the upset price was 75 per cent. ; this year it was barely 10 per cent. Since the !ale a wealthy native, who has been in the colony from its earliest days, has brought all his property, consisting of 60 houses, into the market. The houses are in that part of the town chiefly occupied by Chinese shopkeep6rs, and were formerly considered of great value. Other natives are desirous to sell and leave the island, their dread of assessments and police fines destroying that confidence in the Government which they evinced in the infancy of the colony. The criminal session of the Supreme Court closed on the 19th. There were in all twenty eight cases tried. Seven were for robbery with violence, and stabbing with intent to murder; one for murder. In the latter, the prisoner was convicted of the capital offence, and sentence of death is recorded against him. __ _  Mr. Layton, Vice-Consul at Ningpo, has been appointed Consul at Amoy. It is not his Excellency's intention to fill the vacancy at Ningpo until instructions are received from home. The whole of the consulates, with the exception of that at Canton, require to be greatly reduced. The present expensive establishments are quite uncalled for, and area hindrance to commerce rather than a protection. The commercial reports by this mail continue unfavourable. Prices of cotton goods improved at Canton in the beginning of the month, but they have again receded with large stocks in the hands of importers. No reaction is looked for until after the Chinese holidays, which commence on the 26th of January. The state of the English tea market, as reported by the October mail, is unfavourable, and merchants are cautious in purchasing. The heavy exports to America last year have reduced the price of tea in that market to a low figure, and the cotton goods imported from the United States this season have not realised prices that will admit of any loss on return cargoes of teas. In our last monthly paper we alluded to a placard that had appeared on the walls of Canton, intimating that foreigners would he permitted to walk in the suburbs, and cautioning the populace against insult and riot. On application being made to the authorities by Mr. Macgregor, he was in formed that 67 copies had been posted, and the names of the , places where they were to be ;een enumerated. Mr. Jackson visited all these places, and found seven copies, four on the walls of the foreign factories, the others covered with newer placards and not readable. One or two parties have walked round the city walls without being annoyed, but Mr. Macgregor has issued a circular, advising that this be discontinued, as it-is the intention of Sir John Davis to insist upon the city gates being opened to foreigners, and anydisturbence in the meantime would be made a pretext for delaying to grant such a reasonable concession.