Such is the condition generally of the mercantile community of Liverpool—that port of all others in the kingdom which was most largely to be benefited by the advent of the Free-trade system. From the apex to the base of the social fabric all is uncertainty, fear, and suffering, too intense any longer to be concealed from the most superficial observer; and the crisis has not yet been reached. The reaction has still to come from the manufacturing districts, which, up to within the past few months, in the enjoyment of a moderate amount of activity, caused by a temporary revival of the export demand, are only now beginning to feel the results of the system which, in their selfishness, they invented for their own aggrandisement, at the expense of the industry of the whole empire. The avowed object of the Free-trader was to stimulate the export trade in cotton goods, which it was always boasted was the most valuable to the manufacturer. So far as regards the quantity of the raw material consumed for the export trade, this is an undisputed fact; but that the amount of skill and labour employed in it is equal to that expended upon goods consumed in the home market is not true. In order to arrive at an idea of the relative value of the two trades, it will be necessary for me to bring before the reader a few figures and authorities. In the excellent _Commercial Glance_, compiled for many years by the late Mr John Burn of Manchester, and now continued by his son, the following statement was given, as the mode in which the cotton spun in 1845 was disposed of. I take that year as being one of great prosperity in the home market, and as showing the state of things antecedent to the introduction of free trade in corn. STATEMENT OF THE COTTON SPUN IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND IN 1845, AND OF THE QUANTITY OF YARN PRODUCED, SHOWING ALSO HOW THE QUANTITY SPUN IN ENGLAND WAS DISPOSED OF. Lbs. Total cotton consumed, in lbs., 555,527,283 Allowed for loss in spinning, 1¾ oz. per lb., 60,760,796 ——————————— Total yarn produced in England and Scotland, 494,766,487 Deduct spun in Scotland in 1845, 27,737,022 ——————————— Total spun in England in 1845, 467,029,465