FOREIGN TRADE OF OSWEGO. The subjoined statements of the foreign trade of Oswego, (New York,) which we find in the journal published at that port, is furnished by Mr. Harmon, the deputy collector. It appears that There has been a handsome aggregate increase, although there has been a falling off in the importations of Canadian flour of near one half as compared with last year. The cause of this we have before explained, the principal one being the reciprocal free trade adopted between the Provinces, which has tended to divert Canadian flour from our channels, down the St. Lawrence. The deficiency at this point this year, is made up by the increased receipts of Canadian wheat. The receipts of three articles of largest import, from Canada for two seasons, have been as follows: Large amounts of the products of the forests, such as shingles, lath, railroad ties, oak and pine timber, &c., imported at this point, and not embraced in the above lumber figures. We have not the figures showing the valuation of our foreign imports, or the means of comparing the amount of duties collected, with those of last year. The duties charged at the Oswego custom-house, for the season of 1853, were as follows: Duties paid. Total duties...... $161,545 91 539,816 83 $701,362 74 This amount is said to be near or quite double the amount of duties charged last year, owing in part, probably, to the higher rates at which our imports have been entered the past season. There has also been a considerable increase in the aggregate tonnage amount of our imports, especially of the products of the forest. The value of our exports to Canada for 1853, estimated by a lower rule of valuation than ever before at our custom-house, was as follows: Export of domestic products Export of foreign merchandise. Total valuation.......... The tonnage of our foreign commerce is stated as follows: $1,406,383 537,720 $1,944,103 8,141 1,141,883 66,226 STATISTICS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. A parliamentary paper has just been printed for the first time, (to be hereafter continued annually,) which we hope some Member of Parliament or correspondent in London, will forward to the address of the Editor of the Merchants' Magazine. The statistics of the United Kingdom are for the years 1840 to 1853. They relate to the revenue and expenditure; imports, exports; transhipments; shipping, excise, prices and sales of corn, coinage, savings banks, Bank of England, and the population. The document extends to 27 folio pages, and contains a great mass of figures, having been prepared by the statistical department of the Board of Trade. In the year 1853 the surplus of revenue was 3,254,5057, being the largest excess for ten years. The net amount of the several branches of the revenue of the United Kingdom paid into the exchequer was 54,430,8447. The expenditure out of the revenue paid in the same year was 51,174,8397. In 1853 the taxes repealed or reduced amounted to 3,247,4747, and the estimated amount imposed was 3,356,3831. At the end of last year the balances in the exchequer were 4,485,2301. The capital of the national debt last year was 770,923,0017. The quantity of raw cotton imported last year was 895,266,780 lbs., and of wool, 111,395,445 lbs. The total declared value of British and Irish produce exported last year was 93,357,3067. Last year the num ber of vessels built and registered was 798, of 293,171 tons. The number of vessels belonging to the United Kingdom last year, exclusive of river steamers, was 18,206, of 3,730,087 tons, and the nien employed, exclusive of masters, was 172.525. The coinage in the year was 12,664,125. The births in the year were 612,341, the deaths 421,775, and the marriages 162,135. The total paupers relieved were 818,315. COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. COMMERCIAL TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND BELGIUM. The Moniteur publishes the treaty of Commerce between France and Belgium. The text of the convention is of considerable length. It confirms, and in several respects extends the reciprocal concessions that regulated the treaty of 1845. To this treaty will shortly be added the literary convention, the clauses of which have been equally settled. The principal arrangements of the treaty may be thus stated: Among the stipulations assented to by France in favor of Belgium, are the complete remodeling of the tariff of linen yarus and cloths; the treaty is in many respects a return to the tariff that was in operation before the ordinance of June 26, 1842. There is consequently a reduction in the present import duties. New standards are also adopted for the varieties of unbleached linens, and will, in general, facilitate the importation of Belgian fabrics. The treaty grants to Belgium the privilege, hitherto denied her, of causing Belgian linens to pass in transit through France under the bonding system; that is to say, with English yarns upon condition of re-exportation. Guaranties have been granted against all advance upon French import duties on Belgian coals, cast iron, and forged iron; this is evidently the clause to which Belgium attached the greatest importance. Lime and Belgian building materials will henceforth be admitted free of duty: different reductions are consented to in favor of glass in sheets, of plaited straw and common straw hats; the abolition of surcharge in favor of Belgian machinery, which was regulated by the treaty of 1845, is confirmed; lastly, the prohibition upon the various kinds of pottery is set aside, and an ad valorem duty, ran ing from 33 francs to 165 francs per cwt, is substituted On the other hand, France obtains from Belgium in favor of her wines, silks, and salts, the guaranty of a treatment analogous to that which she grants to Belgian coals and irons. The taxes imposed in 1838 and 1843, by different royal decrees upon woolens, cashmeres, linen yarns, and ready-made articles, cease to affect products of French manufactures, and the suppression remains confirmed for French woven cottons; the most extensive facilities are accorded to French mercantile transit, in favor of which all customs dues are abolished; different reductions are made favorable to the entrance of French gypsum, &c., into Belgium, as well as to the importation into France of Belgian iron pyrites and charcoals; finally, French shipping admitted to the advantages conferred on English vessels by the treaty of December 27, 1851, now experiences the abolition of differential duties. BRITISH COASTING TRADE FREE. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, April 18, 1854. Information has been received at this Department from Albert Davy, Esq., United States Consul at Leeds, of the passage of an act of Parliament by which the whole coasting trade of the United Kingdom is now thrown open to foreign ships, and they will be subject to the same regulations as British ships so employed, and will pay no higher rate of duties, dues, tolls, and charges. Passenger steamers, carrying passengers from one place to another, on the coast of the United Kingdom, will be subject to the provisions of the Steam Navigation Act of 1851. THE MERCHANTS' FLOUR INSPECTORS IN NEW ORLEANS. RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BOARD OF MERCHANTS' FLOUR INSPECTORS, NEW ORLEANS, AS ADOPTED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 1. They shall select some suitable location for an office, to be known as the "Office of the Board of Merchants' Flour Inspectors." 2. Their first meeting for organization shall be held on the 27th of February, 1854, when they shall elect from their number a President and Secretary. S. Said officers shall thereafter be elected annually on the first Monday of March in each year. A President and Secretary pro tem. may be elected at any time to act when the regularly elected officers shall be absent from sickness or otherwise. 4. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all the meetings of the Board, and to act for and in the name of the Board in all matters of communication with the merchants or otherwise, and in the event of any complaint being made by either buyers or sellers, of the classification by any member of the Board, of any particular parcel of flour, it shall be the duty of the President to cause said parcels of flour to be examined and decided upon by all the members of the Board then on duty. 5. The Secretary of the Board shall keep a fair and correct record of all the proceedings of the Board, and also a faithful record of all the flour inspected by said Board, and he shall make semi annual reports to this Chamber on the 1st of January and 1st of July of the quantity of flour thus inspected, and also report any other information or facts connected with the flour trade of our city which the Board may deem of importance to this Chamber. 6. No member of the Board shall absent himself from active duty without the consent of a majority of said Board, unless in case of sickness. 7. In case any one of the members of said Board shall be unable to attend to his duties on account of sickness, or from leave of absence by the Board, he shall (provided the majority of said Board so desire) nominate a deputy to said Board, who, if accepted by said Board, shall do and perform, for a time not longer than sixty days, the duties of said principal inspector, he being responsible for the acts of said deputy as fully as if he had performed said duties himself. 8. No member of the Board shall purchase flour other than for his own use, nor shall he sell flour, under the penalty of five hundred dollars. 9. In case any brand of flour, upon inspection, shall be found not to contain the legal weight of 186 lbs. per barrel and 98 lbs. per half barrel, the owner or consignee shall cause the deficit to be put into each and every barrel so found before it shall be branded by the inspectors. 10. All flour shall be inspected or classified under the following qualities or grades:— First quality..... Second quality. Fourth quality. Fifth quality. Sixth quality .Extra Superfine. Fine. .Common. .Middling. And the Board shall cause such brands or marks to be put upon the heads of the barrels containing such flour as they may deem most suitable, provided that all brands thus used shall have the words "Merchants' Board” 11. If any person or persons shall alter, erase, or cause to be erased, any brand or mark of said Board of Inspectors, any person so offending shall forfeit the sum of fifty dollars for each and every such offence, for the benefit of the Charity Hospital. 12. It shall be the duty of said Board to appoint from their members a committee of not more than two to visit, at some period during the present year, all the important flour markets of our seaboard, and procure, from the most reliable sources, and from their own personal inspection and examination, the standard classification of the various grades of flour in those markets. Also to procure correct samples of those standard grades, and retain them in the office of said Board for examination and reference by merchants of our city or others. It shall also be the duty of said committee to procure every possible information in their power, which may be of value in connection with the article of flour to the trade of our city; and upon the report of said committee to the Board, they shall establish the grades of flour inspected in our city upon such a standard as shall place the flour trade of our city upon an equal footing with that of the other great commercial marts of our country. Resolved, That the Merchants' Board of Flour Inspectors shall be elected by this Chamber annually, at the monthly meeting in February of each year. BUENOS AYREAN COMMERCIAL DECREES. DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT AND FOREIGN Whereas, the position of relations existing between this province and the Provisional Director of the thirteen Provinces assembled in Congress at Santa Fe, is such as to make it absolutely incompatible that the consulate in foreign countries of this province and that of the said thirteen provinces, should be at the same time filled by the same individual; and desiring not only to obviate the embarrassments in which said individuals may be placed by receiving contradictory orders from the governments conferring the said offices on them, but also to remove the prejudice that may result to the interests of this province under such an arrangement, the government has resolved and decrees ARTICLE 1. The consulate of the province of Buenos Ayres cannot be filled by any person having the commission of consul granted by General Dr. Justo Jose de Urquiza. ART. 2. In conformity with the provisions of the preceding article, let the requisite commissions appointing consuls of the province of Buenos Ayres for the various localities in America and Europe, where it is deemed necessary to have such, be issued. ART. 3. Let this be communicated, published, and registered. LORENZO TORRES. DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT AND FOREIGN ( Consignees, captains of vessels, and whomsoever it may concern, are hereby warned that, whereas the government has noticed the infringements made on the existing laws of this country, which require vessels to bring their papers certified by the consular agents of this province at the foot of their clearance, and passengers their passports with the vise of said functionary, it has adopted the necessary measures to check said abuses which are so constantly practiced; and consequently orders that, on the expiration of six months from date for vessels from sea, and two for the rest, no vessel will be admitted to entry at the ports of this province that does not present its papers with the above legal formality; and that passengers contravening this requisition will be liable to the established penalties, which will be enforced with all their vigor. JOSE M. LA FUENTE, Chief Clerk. NEW TARIFF AT BALIZE, HONDURAS. The legislative assembly, elected under the new constitution, was called together by the acting superintendent in January, and has closed its first session, having enacted various laws and ordinances, mostly of a local nature for the government of the place. Among the most important is the adoption of a new tariff of duties for the current year, say from March 1st, 1854, to March 1st, 1855. By this act all unrated articles are to pay a duty of 3 per cent on their actual cost, and all charges including freight; sugar, coffee, and tobacco, are to pay $3 per 100 pounds; tea 25 cents per pound; honey, molasses, spirits, and wines of all kinds, are to pay 50 cents per imperial gallon; hay, lumber, shingles, cattle, and a few other articles, pay a specific duty, which on a average will amount to 10 per cent ad valorem. CHEAP POSTAGE BETWEEN NEW YORK AND AUSTRALIA. The Postmaster-general has made an arrangement with the proprietors of the Australia pioneer line of monthly packets, to convey the mail regularly between New York and Australia, by sailing ships, monthly in each direction. It is expected that the first mail under this arrangement will be dispatched from New York on the 25th of April. The single rate of postage for letters is five cents; for pamphlets and magazines, one cent an ounce or fraction of an ounce; and for newspapers, two cents each; prepayment required. The incoming mails, as the United States postage thereon cannot be prepaid, will be treated as ordinary private ship mails. CLASSIFICATION OF MANUFACTURES IN GREAT BRITAIN. The Board of Trade lately communicated to the Leeds Chamber of Commerce its willingness to adopt in its printed returns a more complete classification of manufactures, and such as would show the extent and progress or decline of the British export trade. The Chamber has decided to recommend that the following classification shall be adopted : 1. Broad woolen cloths, all wool, or mixed with other material. Yards and value. 2. Woolen cloths, heavy, viz., flushings, pilots, beavers, Petershams, Whitneys, and Devons, whether all wool or mixed. Yards and value. 3. Woolen cloths, cloaking, coatings, &c. Yards and value. 4. Narrow woolens, viz., trowserings of all descriptions, whether all wool or mixed. Yards and value. 5. Woolens, waistcoatings, made of wool mixed. Yards and value. 6. Flannels and baizes. Yards and value. 7. Carpets, all wool or mixed. Yards and value. 8. Druggets, all wool or mixed. Yards and value. 9. Blankets. Pairs and value. 10. Blanketing. Yards and value. 11. Shawls, woolen or mixed. Number and value. 12. Woolens not enumerated, including ready-made clothes. Dozens and value. 13. Woolen yarn. Pounds and value. If the above specifications are adopted, the returns of the Board of Trade will be of great value to the manufacturers of woolen fabrics. NAVIGATION OF THE LA PLATA. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, March 23, 1854. The following translation of a decree, issued by the government of Montevideo, is published for the information of those whom it may concern: DEPARTMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT, MONTEVIDEO, Į The Provisional Government of the Republic, considering that the most effective means to secure the public peace, and the development of the national resources; considering that the foundation of the prosperity of a country is amplest liberty to trade, has resolved, and decreed: ART. 1. The navigable rivers of the republic are opened to the vessels and to the Commerce of all nations. ART. 2. Foreign vessels are subject, in regard to the navigation of the rivers, to the same policy and custom house regulations as national vessels. ART. 3. Let this be promulgated, published, and properly registered. LAVALLEJA, THE NEW AUSTRALIAN TARIFF. JUAN C. GOMEZ, A new customs act was passed on the 19th instant, which makes the following additions to the duties previously levied :-Wine, 28, being an additional 1s. per gallon; beer and cider, 6d. per gallon. The following is the tariff of customs now established in Victoria-Ale, porter, spruce, and other beer, cider and perry, per gallon, 6d.; tobacco, cigars, and snuff, 2s. per lb.; coffee, 108. per cwt.; spirits, (all kinds,) 78. per gallon; tea, 3d. per lb.; wine, 2s. per gallon; all other goods free. AN IMPORTANT TREASURY DEPARTMENT RULING. In answer to a recent inquiry, the proper accounting officer of the Treasury rules that where an appropriation has, by accident or mistake, been paid over to a party not legally entitled to the money, the party who may be so legally entitled cannot be paid by the Treasury Department, the appropriation being exhausted; and that his |