There are symptoms of' uneasiness in the great manufacturing districts,
which the Government and the Legislature would do well to watch attentively. An official return of the exports from Liverpool this autumn, shows a prodigious decrease in the amount as compared with that of the corresponding period in last year. For thousands of packages shipped last year, the return shows only hundreds this year. The provincial newspapers mention serious distress in many of the principal towns. A deputation from Bir- mingham has been representing the difficulty of that district to Lord MELBOURNE ; and last week Leeds was in motion. The merchants and manufacturers of that town had a public meeting, and petitioned Parliament to repeal the duty on foreign wool, on olive-oils, and on the exportation of woollen cloths. A memorial to the same effect as the petition will be presented toMr.POULETT Tnostsoet. t.
There is reason to fear, that without some stimulus or relief to the foreign trade of the country, commercial matters will assume a very unpleasant aspect in the course of the next six or eight months. The American debtors are striving to pay their creditors in England; but they have no money for new purchases. The crops of the present year are not shipped against bills drawn for slew orders, but in discharge of prior accounts. The United States are in the situation of a person who has anticipated his year's in- come, and being without credit till the old score is wiped off his tradesmen's books, must rub along in a seedy coat and on coarse fare for the ensuing twelvemonth. Doubtless the trade with America will yet again be prosperous, and more extensive than ever; but in the mean while, what are the masses to do who live from hand to mouth?
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