manded credit, entered the market with avidity, and the Bank of England, notwithstanding rising prices for food, and a continued drain of the precious metals, continued to reduce the rate of interest, and thus facilitated the cotton movement. The following figures describe the movement from the close of the crop year 1838, to the reaction and ruin of 1839: Now, although cotton had risen 50 per cent, wheat 12s. per quarter, and the specie diminished £2,500,000, the Bank of England in March, 1839, offered to reduce the rate of interest to 3 per cent on exchange bills, until April. This was followed by more adverse circumstances. The importation of food continued large, and the bullion in bank to sink, until the alarmed institution, in May, altered its course, and continued to advance the rate of interest, availing itself, for the first time, of the repeal of the usury laws, to raise the rate of interest above 5 per cent, a point that it had not previously attained since 1704. All was of no avail; the failure of the United States bank took place on the 9th October, 1839, and that of England in the following month, was prevented only by a loan from the Bank of France. Under these circumstances it was, that the great falling off in the production of cotton was more than countervailed by the high price of the raw material, the famine price of food, and the financial revulsion abroad, with the catastrophe of the late National Bank here. None of these circumstances attend the position of the great staple this year. The great relaxations that have taken place in the commercial policy of England, has greatly promoted the consumption of goods, attended as it has been by a removal of duties upon consumable articles, particularly cotton, a large railroad expenditure, and an abundant supply of cheap food. If we compare the state of affairs now, with that of 1839, we have the following results: 1838.. 1849 PRICES OF COTTON IN NEW YORK, OCTOBER 1ST, 1838, AND 1849. This being the state of prices in New York at the opening of both situation of things abroad is indicated as follows: 1838.. 1849. Decrease. Increase. Fair & good. 131 a 14 In addition to this actual state of affairs favoring a large consumption of goods this year, it is to be remembered that the corn trade has become regular, and the importation of even the large quantities that were made during the year ending with August, 1849, failed to disturb exchanges-that the Bank of England, which, in 1839 confessedly reduced the circulation, with the object of reducing the value of cotton, has, by its new charter, been shorn of that power, while the large railroad expenditure, and active employment, as well in England as in Western Europe, afford the means of a considerable consumption of goods. The circumstances recounted were mainly instrumental in reducing the consumption of cotton in England 30 per cent; but to attain this, it was requisite that prices in New York should rise to such rates as the following quotations in New York, May, 1839: Ordinary a middling fair. New Orleans. Mobile. 14 a 15 c. 161 a 16 These are 25 per cent higher than the present prices of the raw material, and the so-called high price now relatively to food and interest. It is the case, undoubtedly, that many of the spinners have large stocks of cotton, purchased with the abundant money, at the low prices of the past year, and also that many of the goods-markets have been well stocked; but it is also the case that the general ability to consume is great, As an indication of the views of the United States manufacturers, we may take a table of the purchasers for consumption : Thus, with a price 50 to 80 per cent higher than last year, the United States manufacturers have taken 50 per cent more cotton this year than for the corresponding season last year. Under these circumstances, the prospect for sustained prices of the raw material, are better than usual; the demand for goods being such as to warrant the advance manifest in the raw materials. It appears from the accounts of the Bank of France, that the cash in hand had increased by 2,000,000 francs in Paris, and decreased by 1,500,000f. in the departments. The commercial bills discounted have diminished by 4,500,000 francs. The protested bills have decreased by 130,000 francs. The bank notes in circulation have diminished by 5,250,000 francs in Paris, whilst they have increased in the departments by 750,000 francs. The balance to the credit of the treasury has increased by 5,750,000f., and the sundry credits have decreased by 5,500,000f. COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. PRODUCTION OF HOGS AND BEEF CATTLE IN OHIO. We published a table, in the December number, 1849, of the Merchants' Magazine, showing the number and value of hogs and beef cattle, in fifty-nine counties, in the State of Ohio, as returned for taxation, by the township assessors, and equalized by the County Board, for the year 1848. From an official copy of the annual report of the Auditor of that State, and the Cincinnati Price Current, we are enabled to give the returns for the remaining twenty-seven counties, as follows: Total... 1,886,263 $1,322,968 1,967,998 $2,444,312 1,017,143 $9,695,372 1,069,102 $10,292,800 THE FOREIGN DRY GOODS TRADE OF NEW YORK.* New There are few persons who have any definite idea of the value of the dry goods which annually pass through our custom-house into the hands of consumers. York is called the commercial emporium of the country; but with many this term is treated as a complimentary cognomen, which has no significant application to our city, and to which we have no peculiar title, except through the courtesy which concedes it. Others suppose the commercial importance of New York consists in the huge warehouses which shadow a considerable portion of the city, as if piles of brick and mortar could create wealth. The true secret of our prosperity, apart from the manufacturing carried on within the borders of New York city, may be found in the constant stream of created value which passes through this channel, and is distributed far and wide over the country. It is not local or individual wealth which fills the warehouses and throngs the streets. Stagnant water breeds but the pestilence. It is the flowing stream which irrigates and fertilizes what would otherwise be a desert waste. So it is the constant flow of a nation's supplies, through the facilities here offered for trade, which supports half a million of people, and gives New York the first rank on this continent. We furnish receiving and distributing warehouses for the products of * From the Journal of Commerce. American fields and workshops, and for the tributes to our wants which come from abroad. It is impossible to show the extent of this trade in every department at one view. We subjoin the value of foreign dry goods which have passed through this channel for the year ending with the close of the fall trade. These tables have been prepared with much expense of time and labor, and, we believe, may be relied on as correct : VALUE OF FOREIGN DRY GOODS ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION DURING THE YEAR ENDING DE Total.... $9,633,325 $8,403,098 $13,648,966 $4,268,826 $3,362,219 GOODS WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE DURING THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 1ST, 1849. The increase over the imports for the previous year is not as great as many anticipated. The principal cause of this disappointment was the prevalence of the cholera during the summer, which curtailed the orders for the fall trade. Still, owing to the increased quantity of woolens brought out, the importations for the last six months exceed those of the corresponding period of 1848, although there has been a heavy falling off in cotton and silk goods, as the following comparative table will show :— TOTAL VALUE OF DRY GOODS WHICH PASSED INTO CONSUMPTION FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDING DECEMBER 1ST, IN EACH YEAR. VIRGINIA TOBACCO TRADE. In the Merchants' Magazine for November, 1848, (vol xix., page 545,) we published a tabular statement, showing the quantity of tobacco inspected, the stock on hand, and and the exports, foreign and domestic, in each year from 1843 to 1848, furnished by a reliable correspondent, residing in Richmond, Virginia. The same gentleman has sent us, in continuation of that statement, the following additional particulars: Stock on hand October 1, 1848.... .hhds. 13,959 44,904 58,863 The shipments coastwise were, to New York, about 2,100 hhds; the shipments to other ports probably about 600 hhds.; and there was manufactured in Virginia about 25,000 hhds.: in addition to which there is manufactured a large quantity of tobacco not packed in hogsheads, nor inspected, but brought to market loose. A portion of this is afterwards packed and inspected, but the larger portion manufactured. The extent of this cannot be ascertained. It may be equal to 2,000 to 4,000 hogsheads in different years. COFFEE PRODUCTION OF CEYLON. According to the latest accounts of the crop of 1848-49 in Ceylon, there had been shipped 239,199 cwts. of plantation coffee, against 190,685 cwts. in the preceding year; and of native coffee 127,796 cwts. against 86,170 cwts.; making a total of the shipments in the present year of 41,103,440 lbs., against 31,007,760 lbs. in 1848. The accounts of the growing crop are of the most favorable description, and the estimate of its yields, so far as plantation coffee is concerned, is no less than 273,000 cwts.; so that if the shipments of native coffee should be only the same as in the last year, and we have every reason to believe there will be a considerable increase, the entire shipments will amount to no less than 44,889,152 lbs. Two years ago, in 1847, they did not reach 20,000,000 lbs. and that was the largest crop up to that time. So rapid an increase of production, together with the great improvement which has taken place in the price of this description of coffee of late, cannot fail to restore prosperity to that important island. Native Ceylon coffee, which a year ago was sold in Liverpool at 278., is now |