ANNALS OF BRITISH LEGISLATION: BEING A CLASSIFIED AND ANALYSED SUMMARY OF PUBLIC BILLS, STATUTES, ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS, REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AND OF COMMISSIONERS, AND OF SESSIONAL PAPERS GENERALLY, OF THE HOUSES OF LORDS AND COMMONS. EDITED BY DR. LEONE LEVI, F.S.A., F.S.S., OF LINCOLN'S INN, BARRISTER-AT-LAW; PROFESSOR OF THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF COMMERCE LAW OF THE WORLD," "MANUAL OF MERCANTILE LAW," ETC. SMITH, VOL. XII. LONDON: ELDER & & CO., 65, PREFACE. THE accounts of the Board of Trade from year to year, given under Series A of the Annals, bring out in a special manner how the trade of the United Kingdom is affected by the political and social condition of all countries. A revolution, a war, a famine, or the sudden discovery of gold mines, alters materially the capacity of countries to send produce to the British market, or their means to consume British manufactures; and the results are seen in the sum total of our trading with them. Thus, in 1860, our Exports to the United States of America amounted to 21,018,500l. Soon after, a political revolution turned the tides of prosperity, and in 1861 they were only 9,058,3267.; and in 1862, 14,399,000l. The Imports from the States in 1861 amounted to 49,385,000l., and in 1862 to 27,700,000l. same variations will be found in the value of each article imported and exported, though, owing to the changes of prices from year to year, it is necessary to take into account not only the amount but the quantities; as, for example, the value of cotton imported in 1862 may be the same as in 1861, yet it may represent only a third of the quantity received in former years, seeing that the prices are three times higher. It is only by careful study of the figures exhibited in these accounts that the real state of trade can be properly appreciated. A valuable return will be found under this series of the relation of population to revenue and representation in the different parts of the United Kingdom; The |