THE STATE OF BRITISH COMMERCE

London, June 8, 1858

The trade and navigation tables just published by the British
Board of Trade* comprise an account of the declared value of the
exports of the United Kingdom in the three months ending 31st
March, 1858, compared with the corresponding period of the year
1857; an account of the number and tunnage of vessels entered
inward and cleared outward, with cargoes, in the four months
ending 30th April, 1858, compared with the corresponding period
of the years 1856 and 1857; and, lastly, an account of the
principal exports and imports for the four months ending 30th
April, 1858. The amount of the exports for the month of April,
1858, is £9,451,000, against £9,965,000 in 1857, and £9,424,000
in 1856,” while for the four months there is a reduction of nearly
£6,000,000 in the year 1858. Accordingly the British exports of
the month of April, 1858, would appear not only to have risen
above the level of 1856, but closely to approach that reached in
1857, some months prior to the commercial explosion in the
United States. Hence it might be inferred that the last traces of
the crisis are rapidly disappearing, and that British commerce, at
least, is again entering a new epoch of expansion. Such a
conclusion, however, would be altogether erroneous. In the first
place, it must be considered that the official statistics, as far as they
relate to declared value, do not show the actual returns, but the
returns as anticipated by the exporters. Moreover, a closer

4 “Accounts Relating to Trade and Navigation for the Four Months ended
April 30”, The Economist, No. 770, May 29, 1858, supplement.— Ed.

b “The Board of Trade Tables”, The Economist, No. 770, May 29, 1858,
p. 592.— Ed.

examination of the tables of exports proves that the apparent
recovery of British commerce is mainly due to an over-importation
of East India, which must lead to a violent contraction of that
market. Already we read in the last commercial circular of Messrs.
George Frazer & Company:

“The later advices from the East show symptoms of reaction from the
extraordinary high range of prices which have been current in Bombay and in
Calcutta during the period when supplies there were so short. A not inconsiderable
decline has already been submitted to upon the arrival out of cargoes which were
shipped not later than December. The supplies since then have been to both
markets most liberal, if not excessive; and it seems very probable, therefore, that
for some time to come we must look for less support to prices from the great
activity of the Eastern demand than has been so far experienced since the
beginning of January.”

Beside India, those European and other countries which till now
had not been reached by the effects of the commercial crisis, have
been blocked up by British merchandise, not in consequence of
increased demand, but by way of experiment. The countries thus
blessed were Belgium, Spain and its dependencies, some Italian
States—principally the Two Sicililes—Egypt, Mexico, Central
America, Peru, China, and some minor markets. At the very time
when the most disastrous news was arriving from Brazil and put a
check upon the aggregate export to that country, some branches
of British industry, compelled to find an outlet for their exuberant
produce, did not only not curtail, but actually augment their
shipments for that market. Thus, during the month of April,
linens, earthenware and porcelain, destined for Brazil, were
increasing in quantity as well as declared value. Nobody can
consider this bona fide exports. The same remark holds true with
respect to Australia, which had acted as so elastic a center of
absorption during the first months of the crisis. Australia was then
and is still overstocked; a sudden reaction took place; the
aggregate exports thither were diminished, but again some
branches of British industry, instead of contracting, have actually
expanded — speculatively, of course—their supplies in spite of the
warnings of all the Australian local papers. The export tables of
the month of April, therefore, must be considered not as the bona
fide standard of the recovery of British industry, but as mere
feelers thrown out in order to ascertain what pressure the markets
of the world are again able to bear. The following table contains
an account of the declared value of the British and Irish exports
in the three months ending 31st of March, 1858, compared with
the corresponding period of the year 1857:

Foreign Countries to which Exported.*

1857. 1858.
Russia, Northern Ports .... £3,015 £8,853
Russia, Southern Ports .... 72,777 42,493
Sweden .... 48,007 3,717
Norway .... 30,217 5,911
Denmark .... 92,046 40,148
Prussia .... 133,000 78,917
Mecklenburg .... 9,502 3,099
Hanover .... 288,648 236,669
Oldenburg .... 3,520 1,957
Hanse Towns .... 2,318,260 1,645,419
Holland .... 1,305,606 975,428
Belgium .... 515,175 546,033
France .... 1,631,672 1,035,096
Portugal proper .... 380,160 356,178
Azores .... 10,793 12,581
Madeira .... 9,955 16,245
Spain .... 496,788 584,287
Canary Islands .... 18,817 8,475
Sardinia .... 290,131 293,138
Tuscany .... 189,534 257,508
Papal States .... 69,953 123,059
Two Sicilies .... 284,045 375,177
Austrian Territories .... 253,042 323,086
Greece .... 40,860 69,570
Turkey .... 969,288 821,204
Wallachia and Moldavia .... 111,052 98,135
Syria and Palestine .... 199,070 81,874
Egypt (ports on the Mediterranean) .... 449,497 483,516
Tunis .... 865 2,323
Algeria .... 4,790 4,831
Morocco .... 55,826 37,206
Western Coast of Africa (Foreign) .... 235,527 196,484
Eastern Coast of Africa .... 301 1,927
African Ports on the Red Sea .... 1,130 567
Cape Verde Islands .... 2,419 3,965
Java .... 234,071 149,493
Philippine Islands .... 144,992 212,942
China (exclusive of Hong Kong) .... 290,441 389,647
South Sea Islands .... ... 585
Foreign West Indies .... 620,022 521,435
United States (Ports on the Atlantic) .... 6,231,501 2,565,566
California .... 50,219 94,147
Mexico .... 112,277 151,890
Central America .... 22,453 46,201
New Granada .... 88,502 117,411
Venezuela .... 105,417 62,685
Ecuador .... 2,099 ...
Brazil .... 1,292,325 826,583
Uruguay .... 145,481 177,281
Buenos Ayres .... 285,187 279,913
Chili .... 336,309 270,176
Peru .... 209,889 299,725
Total to foreign countries .... £20,636,473 £14,940,756

* Here and below “An Account of the Declared Value of British and Irish Produce and Manufactures...,” The Economist, No. 770, May 29, 1858.— Ed.

British Possessions.

1857. 1858.
Channel Islands .... £136,071 £120,431
Gibraltar .... 152,926 210,575
Malta .... 116,821 131,238
Ionian Islands .... 66,148 52,849
West Coast of Africa (British) .... 135,452 62,343
Cape of Good Hope .... 442,796 403,579
Natal .... 26,605 23,106
Ascension .... 3,832 2,308
St. Helena .... 3,837 8,416
Mauritius .... 142,303 164,042
Aden .... 11,263 11,996
British Territories in the East Indies (exclusive of Singapore and Ceylon) .... 2,822,009 3,502,664
Singapore .... 101,535 308,545
Ceylon .... 98,817 153,090
Hong Kong .... 133,743 242,757
West Australia .... 15,515 13,813
South Australia .... 180,123 249,162
New South Wales .... 706,337 682,265
Victoria .... £1,427,248 £1,056,537
Tasmania .... 67,550 82,942
New Zealand .... 96,893 93,768
British North American Colonies .... 818,560 439,433
British West India Islands .... 334,024 426,421
British Guiana .... 122,249 95,385
Honduras (British Settlements) .... 28,363 31,869
Total to British Possessions .... £8,191,020 £8,569,534

Total to Foreign Countries and British Possessions .... 28,827,493 23,510,290

The Economist thinks that, from an accurate analysis of these figures,

“the curious fact is disclosed that the entire decrease has taken place in the British trade to foreign countries as contrasted with the colonial possessions.”

In fact, the above tables may be condensed as follows:

Exports for three months.

1857. 1858.
To foreign countries .... £20,636,473 £14,940,756
To British possessions .... 8,191,020 8,569,534
Total .... £28,827,493 £23,510,290

Yet the conclusion arrived at by The Economist seems a fallacy. According to the condensed statement there would appear to have taken place a reduction in the trade to foreign countries to the amount of £5,695,717, simultaneously with an increase of £378,514 in the colonial trade. However, if we deduct the increase in the trade of British smuggling places such as Gibraltar, Malta, Hong Kong, and of mere depots for foreign countries, such as Singapore, a decrease in the aggregate colonial trade becomes evident; and if we deduct India, the decrease appears very considerable. Of the decrease in the trade to foreign countries, the main percentage falls upon the following countries:

1857. 1858.
United States .... £6,231,501 £2,565,566
Brazil .... 1,292,325 826,583
Hanse Towns .... 2,318,260 1,645,410
France .... 1,631,672 1,035,096
Holland .... 1,305,606 975,428

The accounts relating to navigation show a slight increase in the number as well as tunnage of the British vessels entered inward, but a decrease in the number and tunnage of the vessels cleared outward. Of foreign countries, the navigation of the United States continues to maintain the first rank. The following figures show the movement of their vessels to and from the British ports:

Entered Inward.

1856. 1857. 1858.
Ships. Tunnage. Ships. Tunnage. Ships. Tunnage.
United States .... 382 383,255 367 366,407 366 366,650

Cleared Outward.
United States .... 414 395,102 440 427,221 343 321,015

According to the same accounts, Norway, Denmark and Russia seem the countries upon whose navigation the commercial crisis told with the most disastrous effect.