1846. 1847. 1848. Cotton manufactures, £16,276,465 £16,082,313 £15,050,579 Do. yarn, 7,520,578 5,547,943 5,443,800 Linen manufactures, 2,553,658 2,690,536 2,475,224 Do. yarn, 797,640 615,550 440,118 Silk manufactures, 768,888 912,842 520,427 Woollen yarn, 858,953 941,158 712,035 Do. manufactures, 5,852,056 6,424,503 5,198,059 Earthenware, 742,295 773,786 651,184 Hardwares and cutlery, 2,004,127 2,138,091 1,669,146 Glass, 241,759 272,411 216,464 Leather, 307,336 327,715 244,663 Machinery, 1,050,205 1,186,921 779,759 ----------- ----------- ----------- £38,973,920 £37,913,769 £33,401,758 Looking at these tables, we fairly confess that we can see no ground for exultation whatever; on the contrary, there is in every article a marked and steady decline. Some of the free-trade journals assert that, although in the earlier part of the last year there certainly was a marked falling off in our exports, yet that the later months have almost redeemed the deficiency. That statement is utterly false and unfounded. In September last, we showed that the exports of the first seven commodities in the above table, exhibited a decline of £3,177,370, for the six earlier months of the year, as compared with the exports in 1847. We continue the account of the same commodities for eleven months, and we find the deficiency rated at £3,370,603; so that we still have been going down hill, only not quite at so precipitate a rate as before. Free-trade, therefore--for which we sacrificed our revenue, submitted to an income-tax, and ruined our West India colonies--has utterly failed to stimulate our exports, the end which it deliberately proposed. The diminution of exports implies of course a corresponding diminution of labour. This is a great evil, but one which is beyond the remedy of the statesman. You cannot force exports--you cannot compel the foreign nations to take your goods. We beg attention to the following extract from the speech of Mr D'Israeli, which puts the matter of export upon its true and substantial basis:--