Tae Royal Commissioners issued their final Report on Trade shortly before the last mail left England. Perha, should say that three or fear Reports were given, us, besides that of the Majority, to which five of them offer explanatory notes and reasons, there is a Minority Report signed by the fair trade mom-bers, to which Lord Danraven, one of them, adds observ of his own.
ly, the Irish member of the ion has a Report of his own, from every one, probably after the roanner of his countryman who told the eleven other jurors who disagreed with him that he bad never met such an obstinate set of fellows in his life, Somehow the Report of the majority is disappointing, not beau: it does not contain a great deal of formation, bat because the information not new and because, where remedies are suggested, they also are old, And besides these the Report comes bet the world after trade liar own Bi of revival, when the depression which the Commission considered had begun to pass away. All this diminishes interest, but there are still many pi anges in it which commercial people oan sluely with profit, The Report be give with a solemn bat somewhat superfluous recogn of the existence of depression, which the Commissioners define to be a di tion and in some instances an al of profit, with " corresponding diminution of employment for the labouring classes. They next state "that neither the volume of trade nor the amount of capital invested therein has materially fallen off, though the latter has in ly fix the commencement of this period of depression in 1875, since when, with the exception of short periods of prosperity enjoyed by certain trades in the years 1880 to 1883, it proceeded with tolerable—merchiat would be inclined to sny with intoler: ble—uniformity, and has affected the trade and industry of the country gene. rally, but more especially agriouliareand all connected with it, In support of the view that the volume of trade has not fallen off, the majority state that the aggregate of the Foreign part of 1883, if valued at the prices ten years previously, would have been 861 millions in place of 667 millions ste has been a considerable falling off in the profits of producers, whether agricul toral or manufacturing, whicl made depression widespread. Th affected pretty nearly all classes at home, and, coming at the same time with the energetic efforte made by Continental na-tious to extend theircommeroe in foreign markets and in England itself, has been of the chief causes of depres. ade sion. Others contributed, and overproductio®, the rise in the value of gold, the closing of some foreign markets from protective tntiffs or the inorense of local production or cheaper producti in other countries, are mentioned among the moat apparent causes, These have all tended to depress trade, and diminish the profits of capitalists and in some degree anously nffected the wage winning class. But the fall prices has brought compensation to the Inst named and to people with fixed incomes, us the price of commodities lias groutly declined. Wages are wot found to have fallen proportionately to the fall in the cost of the necessaries of life. Auother cause by which the lower section of the middle classes and working peoplo have benefited, is that bath these have in late years shared much more than formerly in the profits of the big capitalists, Whatever, or most which has dropped from the profits of the latter has fallen to the small capitalist ud the workman, The Report is tinct on this, and emphatic in pointing out the improved condition generally of those who labour for their daily bread, Thecost of transport in Eugln d tributed to the depression, linge been—thnt railway companies fryour one district over an. other, and the importer of foreign goods at the expense of the home producer—that English charges for transport are compared to those in ollier countries, and that consequently th home trade is crippled, while that of the foreigner is favoured, With regard to the first point, which is one we have heard a good deal about, the Comu sioners point out that if the railway companies are compelled to charge more on foreign imports, it may be found necessary to follow the sume treatment for goods intended for ex port, in fact to abolish " through rates' altogether. The whole pasenge in the Report on transit charges deserves attention, Lhe Commissioners do not think the preferential rates, of which farmers and others have 80 often bit. torly complain do with depres Trade Unio have lind anything to nor do they accuse to its continuance, sioners who offer the first dissent do 80 on the ground that they deem its general tenor to be too optimist, and the depression. "The real grievance complained of," they say, with regard to English railway charges, "ig that the preferential rate gran. ted to foreign goods operates to the prejudice of the native producer," and they urge that certain privileges lnving been conceded by the State to the railway companies, they should be debarred by law from rieing such pri leges in a manner which is prejudicial to native industry, and places that industry under special disadvantage as compared with similar foreign induatry." This is likely to be the popular view in England. They also offer this on preferential railway rates:—That prefer: ment made in the rates of railway carriage in favour of foreign goods compulsory revision by the proper tribunal, on the ground of undue pice ference' in the same way an prefer ential rates between one individanl and another are now adjudicated upon, The Report of the Fair Traders dors not groutly differ from that of tle majority; it makes points in supper of their theory. Another has been added to the wrong of Ireland, by the suppression on the part of the English Preas of the Nationalist one man Report.
NEW MARKETS FOR TRADE IN CHINA, Tae Caloutts Englishman urges strongly that the mission to Tibet which was countermanded Inst year, should be promptly despatched. It says thut there was no adequate political reason for the withdrawal of the mission Inet year, that the opposition, as far as Chine was concerned, was by no menus strong, and that the Indian authorities displayed Jamentable weakness of purpose, It has quite forgotten that the withdrawal of the mission was the price paid for China's sequins conce in our annexation of Upper Burms. The Englishman counsels the sending Mr. Macaulay at once with another and, if need be, " stronger escort, and 1g on going to Lassa, dent Sé.1éng-0, whose ports caused the suspension year, las been ree called, the Chinese Government. pr elf favourable to the extension of commercial relations between India and Tibet, and will be glad of our assistance in breaking up the ignorant monkish faction in Kaloo, These views of the Calcutta paper are directly opposed to thvse of the Corres: pondent of the Times who, in a revent number, contributes a paper on Now arketa for rade in China, Ho argues that as we have agreed by one of the four clauses of the Burma con" to press the question of opening Tibet unduly ov the Chinese Government, and as the ratifications of Trenty have not yet been exchanged, little premature to propose to wipe out one of the provisions of the contract before the formalities are cone eluded. The Chivese, he says, would have common sense on their side if they argued that this was pressure of the kind which we promised not to apply. 'The correspondent advvoates our encourage. ment of Chivese mercantile pioneers 'Tibet, in the persons of some agents of Singapore firma, as they "wight find it comparatively ensy to make a path along which others could travel.' This suggestion is thrown out tent ly. It ie very possible that if Chinese merchants entered Tibet under Britich protection they would find it easier to establish trade than our own ovuutrys men would, but no one who knows the Chinese character and its partiality for nilds and associations of designed to exclude every from participation in trade
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.