The present and perhaps prospective low price of copper will prove no serious detriment to the mining interests. On the contrary, the lessening of the cost of production will be hastened. The success of some of the leading mines has led to some extravagance of management. The isolation of the country has rendered it difficult to get a resident mining population. The peculiarity of the deposits of mineral wealth, and the want of economical machinery for reducing the stamp work to marketable shape, have been especial hindrances to the accumulation of profits. In some instances there has been an unwise holding back of capital, the shareholders preferring, even after a certainty of success, to defer dividends, by making the product of the mine furnish its own resources. But, in the mean time, there has been developed an energy not less indomitable than has been exhibited in the final successful establishment of many other industrial enterprises. The difficulties of navigation have disappeared since the opening of the St. Mary's ship canal, and of the entry into Portage Lake. The problems of machinery and labor are being rapidly solved. The comforts of a refined civilization are increasing with the extraordinary growth of population, so that with a prospect of 7,500 to 8,000 tons of ingot copper for 1861, even at an average price less than that of 1860, there is much encouragement in the future.-L. S. Miner. FRENCH WINES. The Aigle de Toulouse publishes a decree from the Minister of Finance, extending to all France the permission to mix alcohol with wines intended for exportation. Ilitherto only certain departments possessed the privi lege, which has been frequently solicited by the Chamber of Commerce of Toulouse and the wine-growers of the Haute Garonne. The decree provides that the addition of the alcohol must always be made in the presence of government officers, who are to take note of the natural strength of the wines and of the quantity of alcohol added. FLAX COTTON. The Fibrilia Felting Company, organized under the general laws, have issued their legal notices, from which we condense the following: This corporation is formed to carry on the business of manufacturing flax, hemp, jute, China grass, silk, wool, cotton and like fibrous substances in the various forms of manufacture necessary for yarns, cloth and felt, as well as the bleaching and coloring the same. The capital stock is $10,000, which has been paid in, and has been expended in the purchase of machinery, patent rights, &c., for carrying on the business. The par value of each share is $100, and the business is carried on in Winchester, Middlesex county. STEPHEN M. ALLEN is President, GEO. L. FALL is Treasurer; and they, with S. P. WHITE, are the Directors. NEW MINERAL DISCOVERIES IN CALIFORNIA. A recent number of the San Francisco Alta California furnishes accounts of new and extraordinary rich veins of gold and silver ore that have lately been brought to light in the eastern slope of the Sierra Ne vada range. Mines that bid fair to equal, if not surpass, any thing known in the history of California, are now being opened up in Mariposa and Tulare counties, in the southeastern section of the State. In the Coso district, in the eastern portion of Tulare county, the gold and silver ores have assayed at the rate of $1,500 to $6,000 per ton, from pieces chipped off from the weather-worn outcroppings with sledge-hammers, crowbars, &c. But as if this were not enough to excite the cupidity of lucre-loving humanity, a startling discovery of gold and silver bearing antimonial ore has recently been made, specimens of which have been assayed at San Francisco, and yield the astonishing amount of more than sixteen thousand dollars to the ton! This extraordinary "lead" is in the hands of parties who, naturally enough, do not court publicity in regard to the locality of their splendid prize. Besides these dazzling discoveries, the Mono Lake district, which is located at the junction of Calaveras, Mariposa and Fresno counties, is known to be a prolific field for mining operations, both in silver and gold: while it has been demonstrated that the vast mountains of quartz which comprise the great portion of Mariposa county, known for their prolific gold yield, are even richer in silver. A richer vein of silver has been traced across the northeastern section of Mariposa county, on both sides of the mountain range, which leads to the belief that it is the initiative of a vast bed of silver ore on the west side of the Sierra. In Calaveras county numerous discoveries of extraordinary richness have been made, and it is further stated that discoveries have been made as far east as the Mohave and Colorado rivers, which promise to be of vast importance. The silver lead in Mariposa county has a somewhat romantic history, as told by the Alta: "This silver lead, it is stated, was discovered in 1856, but the discoverer was unaware of its nature until last winter. In his wanderings about Mariposa, where he mined, he at different times prospected, carefully marking the rock he returned with. In 1856, while hunting, he discovered what he thought to be a lead mine. He pocketed the prospect, but thought it of no value in comparison with gold. In 1858 he went east to visit his relatives, taking with him his collection of minerals and gold specimens. Last Februrary he saw a specimen of Washoe ore at W. T. COLEMAN & Co.'s, in Wall-street, and remarking the resemblance to his lead specimen, procured a piece to compare with his own. He was so well satisfied that they were identical in nature that he had each assayed, and his 'lead specimen' proved to be rich silver ore. Keeping his own counsel he returned to California last spring, and has spent the intervening time in retracing his footsteps over the chemical and chaparral hills of Mariposa, and his investigations have resulted in his discovery as above named." Mining and scientific parties are now engaged in exploring these new mineral regions, and the stream of adventurers is already setting eastward, across the Sierras, from the southern country, and next spring and summer that whole region will be filled up with eager treasure-hunters. From these new discoveries California derives additional resources and importance. Fresh streams of emigration will pour into the State, and new and increased impetus will be imparted to its industrial and commercial activity, while the commerce of the world will be stimulated by the increased production of the precious metals. FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. To the Editors of the Merchants' Magazine: LONDON, July 1st, 1861. I CANNOT, I think, do better than proceed at once to put your readers in possession of an opinion advanced to me the other day by a leading public man, who has been out and in Downing-street for nearly half a century. He says that, in any eventuality, England will not go to war with the Federal government, as war is not desired by any class of politicians nor by the mass of the English people; secondly, because no present necessity exists for it on the plea of cotton; and, in the third place, should the war not be ended before the present English stock of cotton fails, it is not improbable that the Federal government, while vigorously carrying on the war with the Confederate States, would permit cotton to be exported from New-Orleans, rather than to provoke war with a foreign power. Such is the view of the American question as taken by one of the foremost men in England; and when submitted to your readers it will be as fresh and assuring as if submitted to them to-day. From all that I can see and hear and read, there is but the one conclusion to which I am forced, namely, that the present British government have no American policy whatever, and that the conservative opposition are in precisely the same state. The conservatives will do nothing and say nothing to involve the whigs in war, and were the whigs unhappily to become involved in war, the conservatives would condemn their policy, and do their best to carry an adverse vote against the government. Were the government to be upset on any question, between now and the end of the session, and the conservatives to take office and go to war with the Federal government, I firmly believe that the first act of Lord PALMERSTON's party opposition would be to condemn the war policy of Lord DERBY, and try to regain office on the strength of such opposition. Whig and Tory are conscientiously opposed to engaging in the present struggle; and, notwithstanding speeches in Parliament and articles in newspapers, you may feel perfectly easy as to the attitude this country will assume, or the course which its statesmen of any party may choose to take. If you can see your way by and by to a regulated cotton trade, through the Upper Mississippi and the New-York railways, if not from New-Orleans, JOHN BULL will be the close and faithful ally of the North, during at least the whole of Mr. LINCOLN's presidential term. Passing from this unusual but highly important topic, the next impor tant subject is the harvest prospects of the United Kingdom. These were never more satisfactory, and the probability is that a larger quantity will this year be harvested than was ever known in this country. Last fall, as your readers will remember, was the only good part of the English season; and winter wheat was put into the ground under the best auspices. An unusually severe winter followed, not severe enough to kill the young shoots, but sufficiently so to make them more healthy than was ever known. A genial spring, neither too wet nor too dry, and a warm summer, has since brought them into ear; and a few weeks more of such weather is only wanted to provide abundantly, almost from the home supply alone, enough for man and beast. High prices are not therefore to be looked for here by your New-York receivers or by the Buffalo or Chicago commission houses. With good weather a very low level of prices will be established, and very likely it will be maintained throughout the year. The time was when good spring wheat flour brought no more than $4 or $4 50 in Liverpool, and you may now expect that such times are again at hand. Shipping matters, in which I am glad to find you take great interest, now politically do not engage attention. Since Mr. LINDSAY's return from the United States he has never said in Parliament a word on the subject; and no question has ever been addressed to him or to Mr. MILNER GIBSON as to the mission in which he ambitiously engaged. The fact is, the House of Commons is thoroughly disgusted with the socalled shipping question, it having been kept before the public by a clique of old-fashioned gentlemen, whose opinions on commercial classes generally are obnoxious to the masses. Any little popularity which Mr. LINDSAY has, which, by the way, is not much, has been gained by popular appeals against this clique; and, very oddly as it may appear to you, while Mr. LINDSAY was making his American tour and enlightening the members of the New-York Chamber of Commerce among the rest, an individual formerly attached to the staff of the Morning Chronicle sent around circulars to all the members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, claiming to have written all the speeches which, during the past years, have been delivered by Mr. LINDSAY, and claiming still further to be the author of all MR. LINDSAY'S published works. Whether this painful revelation has kept Mr. LINDSAY from taking a prominent part in the business of the session and shut him up on the subject of his American mission, I cannot say, but it is a fact, that up to this time his mission has not once been named in Parliament. With the vexed question of shipping grievances nothing whatever has yet been done, and the proposition to abolish passing tolls, at once embodied in the Harbors Bill, introduced by Mr. MILNER GIBSON, is not likely to be favorably entertained by the House of Lords, even if it should pass the third reading in the House of Commons. Among those ship-owners who speak out at all, it is said, why advance another step in the way of the freedom of shipping until the United States and France and other countries make equivalent concessions to those granted to the flags of all nations in the British foreign and coasting and colonial trades? This sentiment also finds expression to some extent in Parliament, and if not sufficiently strong in the lower house to reject Mr. MILNER GIBSON's bill, it is, as I have just said, all but sure to be found strong enough in that house, in which free trade is still distrusted. In dealing with financial matters I cannot, perhaps, do better than give you a resumé of the weekly features of the month. During the VOL. XLV.-NO. II. 14 week ending 1st June, the discount market was moderately easy, the rates in Lombard-street ranging from 5 to 5 per cent. for choice bills, ortobelow the bank minimum. The following were the rates current in the principal continental cities: The monthly Board of Trade returns for April were published in the course of the week, and the official statements of the exports and imports to and from the United States for the first quarter were as follow: 1859,. 1861, Exports. Imports. £6,901,609 11,084,113 13,834,051 The minimum rate of the Bank of England was 6 per cent.; the rate allowed for deposits by the London joint-stock banks, 4 per cent.; the rate allowed by the London discount establishments, 4 per cent. for money on call, and 5 per cent. at seven days' notice; Consols, 913 to 92; French 3 per cent. rentes, 69.40; Bank of France rate of discount, 5 per cent. For the week ending 8th June the money market was more stringent. At the Bank of England business was done to a considerable extent at the minimum rate of 6 per cent., and in the open market the same rate was charged for good 60 day bills. Consols and French rentes declined slightly in the week, the closing prices for the former, ex-dividend, being 89 to 893 and 89; the latter, 67.70 for money and the same for the account. The rates allowed for deposits by the London joint-stock banks was 4 per cent.; by the London discount establishments, 4 per cent. at call, and five per cent. at seven days' notice. The Bank of France rate of discount, 5 per cent. For the week ending 15th of June there was no perceptible change in either the London or Paris money markets. The monthly return of the Bank of France give the following changes: Coin and bullion, increase, £800,000; bills discounted, decrease, £20,000; notes in circulation, decrease, £1,240,000; private deposits, increase, £1,240,000; treasury deposits, increase, £160,000; advances on public securities, decrease, £220,000. Three per cent. rentes gained per cent. in the week, and closed at 67.90 for money and 67.95 for the account. Consols also gained and closed at 90 to 90 for money, ex-dividend, and 90% to 90 for the account, ex-dividend. The demand for money at the Bank of England was moderate. In Lombard-street the minimum bank rate of 6 per cent. was charged for the best bills; in the open market the same rate was charged. The London joint-stock banks continue to allow 4 per cent. for deposits; the London discount establishments, 4 per cent. at call, and 5 per cent. at seven days' notice. The Bank of France rate of discount remained at 5 per cent. For the week ending 22d June three per cents on the Paris Bourse |