ON THE TRADE OF MARSEILLES. 169 



France by the eastern frontier, the continental railways having offered 

 great facilities for the conveyance of grain ; prices fell, therefore, to such 

 an extent that the Marseilles speculators in grain lost very considerable 

 sums of money. The increasing railway facilities throughout Europe, 

 and the prevalence of steam navigation, as well as the large production 

 of wheat in America, the Baltic, and other grain-producing countries, 

 which can now be easily poured into French and foreign ports, whenever 

 required, render it unlikely that Marseilles will ever again see so large 

 an importation of wheat as occurred during the last season, which was 

 almost entirely drawn from the Black Sea and Sea of Azof. 

 Table showing amounts of Wheat imported at Marseilles. 



Quarters. Quarters. 



1852 695,400 



1853 1,406,600 



1854 905,880 



1855 ...... 860,720 



1856 1,864,250 



1857 1,479,955 



1858 1,072,204 



1859 696,253 



1860 475,112 



1861 2,063,520 



Sugar. — There are several large establishments at Marseilles, which 

 last year, collectively, refined about 50,000 tons of sugar, of which 

 33,000 tons were exported to the ports of Italy, the Levant, Black Sea, 

 and Danube, the remainder having been taken up for home consump - 

 tion. This large branch of foreign trade appears likely to remain 

 stationary for the present, owing to the uncertain legislation prevailing 

 with regard to duties and drawbacks, as well as to the fact of the suc- 

 cessful efforts of the Belgian and Dutch refiners, whose products meet 

 those of Marseilles, in many of the aforesaid ports. Some parts of the 

 Mediterranean, also which formerly provided themselves with sugar 

 through Marseilles, now import that article direct from the producing 

 countries, and are setting up refineries of their own. A large quantity 

 of the raw sugar which arrives from Havana, is now being brought here 

 by Spanish vessels, which enjoy such privileges in Cuba, that they can 

 bring sugar here at rates sufficiently low to displace a large amount of 

 the French tonnage which was formerly employed in this particular 

 branch of trade. 



Coffee. — The importation of coffee has fallen off considerably in com- 

 parison with that of 1860, in which year it amounted to 20,000 tons, 

 that of 1861 being only 18,000 tons. It is becoming evident, that not 

 only are the several countries in the Mediterranean, which formerly 

 drew their supplies from Marseilles, importing this article direct from 

 the producing countries, but also that the high rates charged by the 

 Paris and Lyons .Railway Company seriously impede the trade in this 

 article with the interior of France and Switzerland by way of Marseilles. 

 It costs ten francs more to send a ton of coffee from Marseilles to Basle, 

 than the same would cost by way of Havre to that destination. Like- 

 wise the railway was found to be so totally inadequate to the forwarding 

 of the vast quantities of grain imported last year, that not only coffee 



