TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN MANUFACTURES, ETC.

The home trade of the United Kingdom, in produce and manufactures of every description, according to BRAITHWAITE POOLE, Esq., comprises about 290,000,000 tons in weight, and nearly £600,000,000 in value per annum, including the agricultural produce of the country, which amounts to 180,000,000 tons and £240,000,000; the ordinary amount of farming stock on hand being £200,000,000.

The foreign imports average 6,000,000 tons, and £100,000,000 in value, of which 250,000 tons are re-exported, equivalent to £9,000,000.

The exports of British and Irish produce and manufacture, from the United Kingdom, amount to 5,000,000 tons, equivalent to £65,000,000.

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

CONSULAR DUTIES.

We see evidences, on all sides, of a growing interest in our consulate abroad, with a better understanding of their duties, and a more just appreciation of their importance. These institutions have respect to the life, safety, and comfort of Americans in foreign countries; they are essential to our commercial interests; they may be made the instruments of bringing to us important information, and of diffusing just impressions in regard to our country and its inhabitants among foreign nations. Lord Palmerston declared in the British Parliament, a few years since, that he had read every communication from the British consulates, and that he deemed their correspondence to be the most important that was received by the government.

An illustration of the scope and capacity of our consulates is presented by our consul at Paris, Mr. Goodrich. Although discharging his ordinary duties in a manner which has merited and received the approbation of all parties at home and abroad, and at the same time, he has lately published a geographical, statistical, and historical view of the United States, in the French language, which will probably do more to make our country known abroad, than any other work, (if we except the Merchants' Magazine,) which has ever been published. It has not only been noticed with commendation in the leading journals of Paris, but referred to by the President of the French Republic, as well as other persons of eminent political and scientific position in France.

We trust the attention of Congress will speedily be directed to the subject of remodeling our consular system, and especially to the importance of having our consuls placed on a proper basis; and that men specially qualified to fill their office, may be always selected. Consuls should be familiar with the language and manners of the country to which they are sent; they should be men of large and varied information, and of sober and prudent character. Without these qualifications they cannot be safely intrusted with the important and delicate duties belonging to their office.

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE AT SYDNEY.

The following is an extract of a letter to a gentleman in London, dated Sydney, Jan. 27, 1852:-"The Yankees will soon get masters of this market if we do not get a better line of ships or steam communication between here and England. The first clipper-ship from the United States arrived here last week. She left Boston five days after the news of our discovery was known, and made the passage here in 95 days, bringing news from England up to the 4th of October, whilst, by the direct way, we have no later dates than the 18th of Sept. A portion of her cargo consisted of ' wooden buckets' for the miners. I think we shall soon be sufficiently supplied with this article direct from America. Please, therefore, not to send us any buckets of this description."

"COMPETITION IN TRADE" NOT "THE LIFE OF BUSINESS."

The Commercial Register, a well conducted sheet, in a recent editorial has some sensible remarks touching the oft-repeated maxims-" Competition, the Life of Trade" and "Live and let Live," and as they are too good to be lost, we transfer them to the pages of the Merchants' Magazine.

Competition in trade is considered the life of business. We do not pretend to set up our opinions in opposition to the established and acknowledged proverbs of our fathers, but we do differ, in some particulars, with the spirit of the adage quoted above. It might be qualified and amended. Honorable competition is a means of creating trade, and develops the capacity of men. But that competition that seeks every means in its power to monopolize trade, by reducing prices, is far from the life of business, but is, in fact, its very death. Fair, upright, honorable dealing, will always be sure to meet its reward-although the returns may not be immediate, and it is better to compete fairly and openly, than secretly and covertly. We live in excitement, and life is a constant battle. In this country, where competition does not exist to the extent that it prevails in Europe, we have but a faint conception of its injurious tendency, when carried to excess, and know but little of the schemes, resorted to there, to secure trade. In the great battle of existence, as seen in the old world, men resort to every species of trick to secure success in business, and every device is used to obtain custom. This spirit is, unfortunately, on the increase in this country, and men undersell each other oftentimes, to the injury of themselves as well as those whose trade they seek to destroy. We are of those who hold to the sentiment, "Live, and let live;" and we consider it a golden rule. It is at variance with that motive which prompts a man to undersell his neighbor, for the purpose of obtaining his customers, and deserves to be practiced more than it is. There is no selfishness in it; but, on the contrary, a spirit of liberality and Christianity, worthy of our attention and adoption. If business men were to study their true interest, there would be less competition among us than there is at present, and there would be fewer complaints about dull times, and not so many failures as now. The spirit of competition when carried to excess, tends to degrade men, and make them heartless, selfish, and even cruel; and if not checked, leads to distrust, enmity, and uncharitableness. A disposi tion to fair dealing does much to destroy it, and makes our situation less irksome than if we engage in it with full determination to advance our own interests, to the injury of others. There is a living, and more, for all of us, without endeavoring to deprive each other of the means of livelihood, and if we throw aside that spirit of selfishness that prompts to excessive competition, we will benefit ourselves as well as others, and "do unto others as we would they should do unto us."

PRIZES FOR COMMERCIAL ARTICLES;

Mr. W. Parker Hammond, of the firm of Messrs. Hammond & Co., London, offers the following premiums-£50 for the best "Essay on China," embracing the following points: The capabilities of that empire to consume the manufactures of Britain, and existing impediments thereto. The effect of the present British tea duties on its consumption, and on the China trade generally, and the probable influence thereon on a reduction of duty. The opium trade, and its effect upon the commerce and morals of China and India. General remarks on the empire of Japan, and the prospects of the trade therewith. Suggestions as to the most efficient mode of extending Christianity in China. £50 for the best " Essay on the Eastern Archipelago," including the Phiüppines and the Gulf of Siam, embracing the following points: Piracy, its extent and effect on the price of Straits produce and the consumption of British manufactures. The best means of suppression or prevention. The commercial capabilities of the countries alluded to, and existing impediments to their expansion. Christianity—the best means of its extension therein. The object of Mr. Hammond in offering these premiums is, to promote the interests of religion and commerce in the China seas and eastern Archipelago, in connection with the design of the great exhibition. He proposes that the rewards should be given in cash, or in gold medals of equal value, at the option of the successful competitors. Judges are to be appointed to decide on the merits of the essays,—and the last day of next October is fixed on as the limit within which manuscripts must be sent in. It is further proposed that a selection of the manuscripts be made, and the copyright of them be disposed of, and published with the name of each essayist attached, and the net proceeds ratably allotted to the

writers, or, with their consent, disposed of as may be considered by the judges most likely to promote the objects treated on. Detailed statements of the conditions to be observed in competing for the premiums can be obtained from the Secretary of the Society of Arts.

HINTS TO MERCHANTS ON ADVERTISING.

We cut from an exchange paper, and publish for the benefit of the two parties the most interested-the merchants and the "mediums"-not knocking-the subjoined homily on advertising.

"Our merchants are doing the handsome thing, in informing the people where the good bargains can be made, for proof of which see our advertising columns. It is just as certain that the man who advertises freely will do the business, as it is that everybody likes to buy cheap and good goods. If a man has got goods that are not fit to be seen nor bought, it is sensible in him not to inform people of what he has got, nor invite them to look at his stock. The same thing is true of all branches of business, mechanical trades, etc. People look in the papers now-a-days, if they want information in relation to all these matters, and the man that wants their custom must get it by reaching them through the public print.

"Oh, Fudge!' says some old granny of a man, that is all to get a few dollars out of me for advertising. I'm too smart for that. If anybody wants my goods or work, I think they will find me, advertise or no advertise. I think I'd save that money?— Very well; the printer is not half as much a loser as yourself. Try it for a year, and then come to a painful realizing sense that your neighbor has entirely outstripped you in business, and wonder why it is that everybody is running to him when your goods are as good as his. Ah! there's the rub.' People won't believe that a man has got good Goods, if they are not good enough to be advertised. That's the way they all do now,' and if any man pleases to be singular, let him do it at his own cost: we have warned him in due season."

THE CLOVES OF COMMERCE.

The article known in commerce as cloves, are the unopened flowers of a small evergreen that resembles in appearance the laurel or the bay. It is a native of the Molucca, or Spice Islands, but has been carried to all the warmer parts of the world, and is largely cultivated in the tropical regions of America. The flowers are small in size, and grow in large numbers in clusters at the very ends of the branches. The cloves we use are the flowers gathered before they are opened, and whilst they are still green. After being gathered, they are smoked by a wood fire, and then dried in the sun. Each clove consists of two parts, a round head, which is the four petals or leaves of the flower rolled up, inclosing a number of small stalks or filaments. The other part of the clove is terminated with four points, and is, in fact, the flower-cup, and the unripe seed-vessel. All these parts may be distinctly shown if a few leaves are soaked for a short time in hot water, when the leaves of the flowers soften, and readily unroll. The smell of cloves is very strong and aromatic, but not unpleasant. Their taste is pungent, acrid, and lasting. Both the taste and smell depend on the quantity of oil they contain. Sometimes the oil is separated from the cloves before they are sold, and the odor and taste in consequence is much weakened by this proceeding.

COMMERCE IN SICILY.

The official journal contains a variety of decrees more or less interesting. Those relating to commerce are important. The trade of the free port of Messina has been crippled for a long time, owing to the vexatious regulations of the custom-house, which even after the full restoration of the freedom of the port of Messina, prohibited goods to be freely circulated from that depot throughout the kingdom of the two Sicilies. A royal decree, bearing date April 20, 1852, (Palermo) permits the exportation of foreign goods to all parts of the royal dominions. This is highly favorable to the interest of merchants and British interests generally, as nearly the whole of the trade of Sicily is in the hands of English houses. Prince Satriano, the lord-lieutenant, has insisted on these new arrangements, to which the Neapolitan Minister of Finance was long opposed.

DR. PALEY ON THE FISHERY QUESTION.

In the Bridgeport edition of PALEY, 1827; p. 64, chap. xi. occurs the following under the head of "General Rights of Mankind":—

"If there be fisheries which are inexhaustible, as, for aught I know, the cod fishery on the Banks of Newfoundland and the herring fishery in the British seas, are, then all those conventions, by which one or two nations claim to themselves and guarantee to each other the exclusive enjoyment of those fisheries, are so many encroachments upon the general rights of mankind."

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Upon the same principle may be determined a question which makes a great figure in books of Natural Law, Ütrum mare sit liberum,' that is, as I understand it, whether the exclusive right of navigating particular seas, or a control over the navigation of those seas, can be claimed consistently with the law of nations by any nation? What is necessary for each nation's safety, we allow; as their own bays, creeks, and harbors, the sea that is contiguous to-that is within cannon shot, or three leagues of the coast. And upon the same principle of safety (if upon any principle) must be defended the claim of the Venetian state to the Adriatic, of Denmark to the Baltic, of Great Britain to the seas which invest the island.

PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY.

The Dutchman very justly observes that the moment money becomes cheap, up goes the price of beef and potatoes, so that it makes but very little difference to any body save gold diggers and borrowers, whether the yield of gold mines be one ton a year or one thousand tons. Since the discovery of gold in California, interest has fallen some 40 per cent, while rents have gone up seventy-five. The idea that the quantity of comfort in the world depends on the quantity of money in it, is, therefore, all moonshine. Double the present supply of gold, and we would double the price of every article for which gold is given in exchange-so that it makes "no difference to nobody" whether half the mountains in California are composed of precious metals or not. Things will find their level, and if an hour's labor in California will produce an ounce of gold, the time will soon come when an ounce of gold will be given for an hour's cobbling. The quantity of labor necessary to produce an article determines its value. Make gold dust as com.non as gravel, and it would bring the same price per peck.

PEARL FISHERIES IN PANAMA BAY.

The Panama Herald, of a late date, gives an interesting account of the pearl fisheries in Panama Bay. About fifteen hundred persons are engaged in the business, and the value of the pearls obtained varies from $80,000 to $150,000 per annum, seldom less than $100,000. The best divers remain under water from fifty-eight to sixty-one seconds, and generally bring up from twelve to fifteen pearl shells. The price of pearls varies according to their purity, shape, and weight, say from ten to five thousand dollars per ounce. From five hundred to fifteen hundred are very frequently paid in Panama for a single pearl, not weighing more than three-sixteenths of an ounce.

EFFECT OF REDUCED CUSTOMS DUTIES IN AUSTRIA.

The returns from the department of customs for the month of March are of a nature to discourage all sticklers for prohibition. Instead of a falling off in the revenue, consequent upon the new tariff, the imports have increased more than in proportion to the reduction of the duties. The custom-house receipts for March, 1852, exceed the returns for the same month in 1851, by 66,282 florins, (convention currency,) and the increase is on the very articles the duty upon which has been most lowered.

A BENEVOLENT BANKER.

The Staunton (Va.) Spectator states that Mr. Corcoran the wealthy Washington banker, was recently informed by the lady philanthropist, Miss Dix, of the destitute condition of a deaf and dumb orphan girl of Washington, who had been unable to obtain a place in the Northern institutions. Mr. Corcoran immediately sent to Miss Dix, a check for a sufficient amount to maintain and educate the girl, with the distinct condition that she should be taken to the Virginia institution, where she is now comfortably jocated.

THE BOOK TRADE.

THE BOOK TRADE OF FRANCE.

From the last number of the Journal de l'Imprimerie for 1851, we gather the following statistics of the productions of the French printing houses during the last ten years. Seven thousand three hundred and fifty works in living and dead languages, published in 1851, thus:

or an average per year of 6,436 works. The same presses printed in 1851, 485 musical works, and in the ten years, 3,336, or an annual average of 333.

There has also been published 1,014 engravings and lithographs, and during the 10 years, 13,085, or an average of 1,308.

Two hundred and fifty-three maps and topographical plans have also been published during the year; during the ten years, 1,005, or a mean of 100 a year.

Thus it appears that nearly in every department of press-work, the year 1851 is in advance of the average of the last ten years. The grand total of works published in France during these ten years, engravings, musical works, maps, and plans, is 81,994.

1.-Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs. By JOHN KENRICK, M. A. 2 vols., 12mo., pp. 427 and 448. New York: J. S. Redfield.

The aim of the able author of this work has been to present to the historical student a comprehensive view of the results of the combined labors of travelers and artists, interpreters and critics, during the whole period since the discovery of the hieroglyphical characters. It describes, as known to us at present, the land and the people of Egypt, their arts and sciences, their civil institutions and their religious faith and usages, and relates their history from the earliest records of the monarchy to its final absorption in the empire of Alexander. The sources, both ancient and modern, from which the information has been derived, are indicated, and no accessible materials have been intentionally neglected. The geography of the country, its population and language, its cities, agriculture, navigation, Commerce, arts, science, learning, manners, customs, religion, rites, theology, dynasties, &c., &c., form the subjects of its pages. The reader will find it prepared with great intelligence and ability. Embracing the contents of a vast number of volumes, and the results of arduous labors, it has a value and importance beyond any single work on this interesting subject.

2.-The Master Builder, or Life at a Trade. By DAY KELLOGG LEE. 12mo., pp 322. New York: J. S. Redfield.

Presuming that there is a romance in every true character and in all the great labors of life, this is an attempt to describe the romance of those simple yet sublime pursuits, which are the hope of our Republic and the glory of her people. "Life at a Trade " is here represented, as some mechanics may perhaps think, in too glowing colors. The scenes of nature are described with much minuteness and fidelity, and the interest of the story is generally well sustained.

3-Life of Franklin Pierce. By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 12mo., pp. 144. Boston Ticknor, Reed, & Fields.

This is not a political work, but a tribute of friendship to one who, at the present moment, engrosses a large amount of public attention. Of course it is well done, as anything from the pen of Hawthorne is sure to be-even the most confirmed political opponents of this presidential candidate, who possess literary taste, might find in the subject as here presented, charms such as they never before anticipated.