ENGLISH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 290, 25 November 1862, Page 4

ENGLISH.

(From the 7/owie News.) Tenders will be received at tiie Bank of England on the'Mst October for bills of exchange to be drawn on India, to the amount of 38,000,000 rupees, ol wbich not more than 10,00,000 will be drawn on Bombay, and 3,00,009 on Madras. A circular issued yesfcerdav announces that the affaire of Mr. Z. C. Pearson,"of London and Hull, have been transferred to the Court of Bankruptcy. At a recent meeting of many of the principal creditors-aiuiri'angement was come to whicli it was anticipated would have prevented this step, but it now appears that the proposition then put forward has not received general assent, and that a pressure ba* been put upon Mr. Pearson by judgment creditor.

The directors of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China have announced that their loss from the recent opium fraud at Hong Kong may amoun: to about L4O/100, and tliat, as this will just absorb profits of the half-year, they recommend the suspension of a dividend on the present occasion. Apart from this event the progress of the establishment is said to have been very satisfactory. The Board of Trade returns for the month of July have been issued, and present results unexpectedly favorable, although it was anticipated that in contrast with those of July last year, when the full effects of the interruption of the American trade were beginning to manifest themselves, the figures would' not be found very adverse. It now appears that the declared value of our shipments for the month exceeded by L 2,037,541, or about 20 per cent., those at the corresponding date of 1861, and were only L 390,897, or about three per cent., less .than these of July, 1860, when the trade of the country had reached its most extraordinary point, owsng to the speculative and reckless consignments of cotton poods that were then being made by our Liveipool and Manchester merchants and manufacturers to all parts of the world. Part of the increase is to be attribetcd to the rise in the price in cotton, but the gratifying fact is observable that almost every branch of business, with the exception of that of machinery, figures for a substantial augmentation, and that the ""totals of linen, silk, and woollen manufacturers were especially conspicuous. A large portion of this improvement of trade is attributable to the increased intercourse with Franco, and some portion was caused by the temporary increase of shipments to New York to supply the market before the coming into operation of the new and almost prohibitory tariff on the Ist August.

The total exports in the first seveu months of the year have been L 69,446,480 against L 70,237,685 n the corresponding months of 1861, showing a decrease of L 791,205, or little more than 1 per cent. The changes have occurred as follows :— Increase. Decrease, January 94,354 — February .... — .... 53,059 Marcn .... — .... 1,286,181 April .... _ .... 1032,325 M^y .... 92,517 .... — June .... — .... 523,452 July .... 2,437.541 .... -- Compared with the first seven months of 1860 a decrease is shown of L 5,006,207, or about 6| per cent. A conference of some of the largest creditors of Mr Z. C. Pearson, shipowner, of Hull, who stopped pas--ment on the Ist September, took place on the 10th at the oflice of Messrs Coleman. Turquand, Youngs, and Co., when the state of his affairs was considered. Confidence was expressed as to the ultimate realisation of his estate, and a resolution was come to that upon payment of 40 per cent in money on or before the l*t of October, the unsecured creditors will hold over the remaineer of their claims, the creditors possessing security consenting.to hold over their claims upon any balance that may ultimately be found due to them, relying upon payment of such ballances out of the proceeds of the estate as they may be realised. This arrangement is proposed to be carried out by a committee of five who were appointed for that purpose. The suspension has been caused by large veutures to the blockaded ports of the Southern States of Amen ca.

The last steamer from New York brought a circular J ? American Petroleum or Rock Oil Company, 7j;!.°h has been organized with a nominal capital of LIOO,OOO. The company offer to deliver it in any quantities free on board at New York, and they state that the Excise duty, equal to 5d sterling per gallon, recently ltnnosed upon refined oil under the new system of Federal taxation, does not apply to exported oil, and that in no case is there any duty on the crude article. In addition to the qualities of this oil as au illuminator, giving a much whiter light than gas. as well asf or purposes of lubrication and for the manufacture of dyes, it is now found to yield a substitute fov turpentine, which, so far as it has been tested as a vehicle for painting, is considered to work much more freely than turpentine, aud to combine properties of that spirit with some other peculiarity, which give it fluency and softness. The consumption of rock oil in the world is vaguely estimated to have been 15 millions of gallons in 1860 20 millions in 1861^ while for 1862 the quantity, is it thought, may range from 30 to 50 millions.