Variation in the Price and Supply of Wheat. 215 
Grain is tho chief article of export of tlic province. Tlie iiiscciirity arising 
from tlie Gerniaii-Uanisli t|uarrel, and the prospect of a possible blockade, 
caused a pressure to ship, which told on prices and made the trade rmprofit- 
ablc. "'i'iie harbour works at Kocnigsberg and PiUau are now the subject of 
great reform ])laus, which, in connexion of the proposed railways, are expected 
to facilitate commerce and to double the trade of Kcenii;sbcrg-Pillau. The 
general feeling is that a great commercial future is in store for Koenigsberg. 
The value of property has increased wonderfully during the last few years, and 
the population likewise." 
KONIGSBERG.— Mr Consul W. J. Hertslet's REroRT for 1866.— 
Freights did not vary much. They commenced with 2s. %d. to 2s. &d. to the 
east coast of England, with Zd. to Qd. less for coal harbours, per quarter of 
600 lbs. of wheat, and rose about 9cZ. per quarter in June and July ; and in 
October the quotations of freights were 4s. to London for sailing-vessels, and 
about 6(Z., and latterly Is., more for steamers to Loudon. The depth of water 
on the bar at Pillau h;is gradually decreased from its greatest depth in 1862 
of 22 feet Rhenish to 19 feet 6 inches in 1866, or, at close of 18G6, about 20 
feet English measure. But measures are contemplated to improve the depth 
again, and will probably be carried out, as the im|)ortaiice of Pillau as the 
nearest available seaport for the Russian empire is daily becoming more clear. 
The commerce of East Prussia alone would, of course, not be of so great im- 
portance, but the merchants of St. Petersburgh, Riga, and other Russian 
places, have already commenced to quote the prices of their export articles 
during the winter months, " free-on-board at Pillau," and the imjwrt of goods 
for Russia at Pillan is already very considerable. 
The commercial year 18G6 commenced in a most gloomy manner, and the 
gradual approach of war with Austria, which threatened the very existence of 
Prussia, and before it actually commenced, was most unpopular, and caused 
the greatest consternation and distress, not only in commercial, but in all 
classes. Count Bismarck and his policy were execrated, and the mililarj' 
system of Prussia, which tears away all — fathers, sons, biothers, husbands, 
often the sole support of those they leave behind— to make soldiers of them, 
without any mercy and without any means of living during their absence, or 
any provision for widows and children in case of mutilation or death, was 
put to a trial which any reverses would soon have made insupportable, but it 
pleased Providence to give success to the Prussian arms. Not only success 
on the fields of battle, which might have been looked for from the better 
armament of the Prussians, but also the success which was beyond all hope, 
and yet without which no victories could have heljied Prussia. This success 
•was the rapidity with which the drama was acted. The state of Prussia, even 
if victorious, if the war had been protracted for any length of time, must have 
been beyond description ; as it was, the rapid intelligence of one victory after 
the other naturally called forth a spirit of exultation. Private misery was 
forgotten, and the very parties who hail blamed Count Bismarck's policy the 
most, went over en masse to the exactly oj)posite opinion. The Prussian 
system of general and universal military liabdity may be an excellent one to 
repel foreign aggression, or for a short and victorious campaign, but for mis- 
fortunes or prolonged warfare, it is difficult to imagine any system which 
could so soon and so radically ruin a country. These remarks are of course 
from a purely commercial point of view. 
From extreme radicalism before the war, Konigsberg went over to ultra- 
Royalism, and, with universal suffrage, the Commander-in-Chief of the First 
Armde Corps and the Royal Landrath, or Prefect, w^ere elected to represent 
Kijnigsberg at the North German Parliament. The victories of the Prussian 
army and the enormous number of prisoners of war which arrived at Kbnigs- 
berg and vicinity may account a good deal for this. From a military point of 
