Star. — London, England, 1825-03-01 00:00:00

f of the unlawfol Societies Bill:—Laid on the table, after a few from Viscount Clifden. .. _ Lord RODEN presented a similar Petition from the county of Down.—Laid •n the table.—Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. A Call of the House having been ordered for this slay, the gal lery was not opened to strangers till a quarter past six o'clock. Sir W. CURTIS presented a Petition from the Ward of Port **ken, for a repeal of the Assessed Taxes. WELSH IRON MININO COMPANY. On the motion for the second reading of this Bill, Mr. P. GRENFELL said, if it were a fact that delu sion to a certain extent prevailed among the public with respect to some of the New Companies, he thought the sanction of an Act of Parliament was calculated to strengthen that delusion. The present was one instance where, in his opinion, the House ought to investigate the foundation of the speculation before it was approved of.--The Bill was then read a second time. On the m‘stron that it be committed, Mr. HUSKISSON was sorry to acknowledge, that at the very time when Parliament had put down the Lottery, the formation of many of these new Companies seemed productive of a still worse species of gambling. He believed, however, if all the subscribers had not paid up the sums affixed to their names before the Bills proceeded to another 'place (the House of Lords) they would find great difficulty in having them passed. The standing orders of the place be alluded to, imposed that restriction mi such Bills. Mr. HOBHOUSE was glad to hear that some re straint was placed upon the present rage for speculation, for lie could prove to the House, that, in one or two instances, Companies had been got up without any real pretext for their formation. One he should not hesi tate to mention, namely, the Pasco Peruvian Mining Association, which he believed had no foundation whatever to pro cettl on, beyond what it possessed on the Stock Exchange. Mr. BARING thought it impolitic that whatever trash in the way of speculation might be brought into that House, should be allowed to pass on the mere hope that it would be examined in another place. The House did not do its duty in suffering Private Bills of the nature in question to receive its assent without examining them ; and he thought his Right Hon. Friend opposite (Mr. Huskisson) would do well to take the subject, into his consideration. They had heard that a Learned Lord in the other House of Parliament had intended to introduce a Bill, a bubble Bill, to tegulate the proceedings of Joint Stock Companies; but whether that intention remained, or was surrendered, was unknown at present. Mr. lIUSKISSON denied that, in his official capa city, as President of the Board of Trade, the duty de volved on him, of judging of all such Private Bills as were referred to. It was not his business to enter into the merits or demerits of public speculations, but he had no hesitation in saying again, notwithstanding, as he befog stated last Session, that he should oppose any measure which went to limit the pecuniary liability of the parties concerned in it. When this was not the case, he saw no objection to the House granting a right to Companies to sue and be sued as Corporation;. 11UME should be sorry to, see a rule laid down for the guidance of the House respecting these Com panies. Parliament could not judge what was or was not a good undertaking. When the Bill for erecting "Watt!, 100 Midge was introduced into that House, what would have been thought if a notice had been posted tip stating that the speculation was a bad one? and yet none of the objects of the present Companies could prove more delusive to the subscribers than Waterloo Bridge now turned out. All that Parliament ought to do in these matters was to give such facilities as were in its power, that parties might sue and be sued in their joint capaci:y.—Mr. BAILING explained. Sir C. MORGAN presented a Petition from Monmouthshire, ptaying a repeal of the Douse Duty. Similar Petitions were also presented by Mr. C. Duunas, from Warringford; by Mr. Loci- HART, front the Parish of St. Edmunds, Oxfordshire ; by Mf. New- MAN, from tile iobabitants of Bethnal Greets ; and by Mr. 110BHOUSE from the Parish of St. Martin's in the Fields, Westminster. The Hon. Member, in pre. i seining this Petition tared, that it was signed this day is less than two' hours, by every householder in the Strand, except six. He therefore requested the attention of the Chancellor of the Excheqner most particular ly to the subject of it, and to a fact that had occurred within the last month—namely, hat although the Parish of St. Ann's contained but 1,400 houses, 100 distresses for King's Taxes had been put in these in the short period just mentioned. Mr. M A BEH LEY supported the Petition, and took that opportunity to mention that the House ought to withhold a decision upon the financial affairs of the country, until the motion which stood for Thursday next was disposed of. . . . of Topsham, A the Roman Bill which had Association. Petitions, on declined doing tor a repeal of was presented -t:tslaire. Sir T. County Clerk of , f Small Debts. from Green- Coals ; the other Citizens of Lon. ayer of the , which the derive from the parish of St. concessions to the Ito :n doing so observed, England seemed at , that in the so such hos tion of the \c Catholics, t. Oo the con the people were for a repeal of Berkshire, there from the duty of parish of Lam - at lost for a 'cation. from the county ietition from the inhabitant► of great from the Ca the Bill now the Catholic the Catholics •ony of Clan •om the Pro . the Catholic observed, that at received several .-on-Suir and the ' grateful thanks "iich they were toning this cir tunity pass of alien from the Sir J. Sebright). That Honourable Gentleman said that be, as an Easslishetan / was ashamed that any portion of bis fetlow.eubjetts should be ex cluded from the civil rights se account of their reli gious tenets. He (Collett Bagwell) was also ashamed, as an Irish man, that such ahould be the case—that tbe friends whom he re vered—who were his associates—with whom be mixed in all the familiarity of private life—should be deprived of tke privileges and immunities which be enjoyed, and merely because he professed one religion and they another—(Hear). Sir JOHN SEBRIGHT repeated that be was ashamed that a British House of Commons should ex• - -------- _ _ _ clude six millions of British subjects from the Constitu tion, merely on account of their religion. The great fault of the Roman Catholic Religion was its Intolerance; but now the tables were turned, and the Protestant was the intolerant, the Catholic the tolerant religion—(Hear, bear). Mr. WYNDHAM LEWIS presented a Petition, praying a re• peal of the House and Win'dow Duties. Sir ELIA B HARVEY presented a Petition from the Arch deacon and Clergy of Colchester, against any further concessions to the Roman Catholics, in the prayer of which he concurred. FINANCIAL STATEMENT. On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the ExcusQuza, the House resolved itself into a Committee of Supply. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then rose, and spoke as follows:—Although, Sir, I cannot forbear congratulating the House upon the auspicious circumstances under which I rise to resume my state ment of the finances of the country, I beg the Corn- mittee to believe, that I do not do so for die mere pur pose of making a flourish, or from a desire to lead'the House or the county to indulge in any unreasonable exultation as to the present, or any extravagant antici pations as to the future. But although I have no such purpose, and although there may be persons in this country, and in all probability there are in other countries, who, jealous of die eminence of our pro sperity, or ignorant of its causes, may think that we have arrived at that eminence at our own peril, and say to us numerosa parabat E.=las turns tabula i ta ; unde alder euet Cpus, et imputsse praceps humane ruin= Yet I will venture to tell thoie who think thus, that a calm and dispassionate view will convince them that our prosperity has nothing hollow in its foundation, arti ficial in its superstructure, or flimsy in its general bear ings—that it may be contemplated with unalloyed ad -narration for the harmony of its proportions, and the solidity of the basis upon which it is founied—( Cheers). I say, Sir, that far from thinking we are in this danger, no one who looks at the situation in which we stand, and applies his mind fairly and philosophically to the causes of our prosperity, who will not see plainly and legibly pourtrayed before him that course of policy which we have adopted, as the best calculated to strengthen our own resources, and promote the happi ness of the civilized world—(Hear, hear, hear). With these observations, and wishing that the Committee will keep in view the principles upon which the policy I have alluded to is founded, I will proceed to the more immediate objects of discussion. And in doing so, 1 wish, in the first place, to bring under the notice of the House a comparison of the actual Revenue of the year past, and the estimate which at the commencement of it, I ventured to make as to its probable amount. At the commencement of lest Session, I assumed, in the calcu lation which I then made, that there would be, at- the expiration of the year 1824, a surplus of 1,050,0001. Upon this assumption, and carrying on its view to the end of the year 1827, the House was induced to effect a considerable reduction of taxation, amounting to 1,260,0001. In consequence, however, of an alteration subsequently made by the H. use in my plans, by which one halt of this sum was lo,t to the Revenue in the course of the year, if the surplus of 1824, had been 400,0001. instead of 1,050,0001. at which in the cal culations imparted by me to the House I had esti mated it, my estimate would still have been realized, and all the expectations founded upon it accomplished. But instead of this, notwithstanding the loss sustained by the reduction of taxation coming into more early and considerable operation, owing to the cause I have explained, than I had anticipated, I have the satisfac tion to state to the House that the actual net surplus of the year 1824, after applying 5,150,000/. to the re duction of debt,aad the repayment of duty made to the silk merchants upon stock in hand, the net surplus is , no less than 1,137,7441.—(Leud cheering)—exceeding not only that which would have been sufficient to come up to any anticipations, the allowance for the unforeseen occurrence I had alluded to being made, but exceeding by a considerable sum that which I had calculated it would have been, had no reduction of taxation have taken place—(Hear, hear).—The Committee will par don me if I draw their attention a little to the items, and some of the details, connected with those branches of the Revenue upon which an increase, beyond the expectations I had formed, has occurred. At the be ginning of last year, I estimated the produce of the Customs' Deities at 11,550,000/. Of these duties,' 900,0001. were repealed in the course of the year. The loss which has been sustained in consequence of this reduction, is equal at the least to the whole amount repealed; because, in order to give greater facilities to the execution of the liberal principles which the House had adopted, no less than. 460,0001 . was paid back to the holders of silk stock in hand; and if this be added to the diminution naturally accruing from the mere re duction of duty, the total loss of Revenue cannot be less, and I believe has actually exceeded 900,0001. But supposing this demand upon the Revenue of the Cus toms for duty upon the stock in hand of silk had not taken place, allowing that the loss of one half of the reduction of duty, viz. 450,000/. had taken place, my estimate would have been realized, if the return of the Customs had been 11,050,000/. But such has been the improvement in this branch of the Revenue, that not withstanding the drain to which I have adverted, the produce of the'year 1824, amounts to 11,827,000/. — (Hear). —This is the total result, which, the Committee will see, has considerably exceeded the estimate which I made, and would have been greater, if the 460,0001. hid not been paid to the holders of silk by the subse quent decrtion of the House. Now what are the cir cumstances which have led to this great increase?—l think the proximate cause is to be found in that exten sion of our commercial policy which we last year adopted—in the greater consequent capacity of the people of this country for the consumption of foreign produce, the general ease of the community, and above all the increased capacity of foreign nations to consume our produce, arising out of the means of doing sowhich we afford them by taking theirs—(Hear). Let it not be said th at this cheering result is accidental, that it is the feature of one year, or that it proceeds from the peculiar situation of this or any other country.' I confess, Sir, I think it rests upon principles totally different. I think it depends upon a principle which is rooted in human nature, and which is the essence of human society—(Hear). The increase of the popula tion in the propress of time, alone, is sufficient to ac count for it. But there is as obvious principle in the constitution of human society which leads one nation to open its arms to another—a principle which leads to the fostering of new connections,Creating mutual wants between nation and nation, and the desire of tasting new enjoymments—all of which a benevolent PROVIDENCE has ordained for the improvement of the human condi tion—(Hear). This principle may be impeded by war; its course may be diverted from its natural channel ; it may be checked, and we in this country have been des tined to witness examples in proof of it, by injudicious legislation--i(Hear,hear, hear). But as to the principle itself, that is always alive—it has a tendency to increase and confer benefits all over the world; and therefore it is that any success or advancement founded upon it can not be attributed to chance or the operation of accidental causes, but must rest upon a basis not to be shaken. And if I add to this cause that wonderful discovery which has acted like a lever upon the powers of production— I mean the steam engine—will any one, taking all these things into consideration, suppose that I take too san guine a view of our cenditinn, when I maintain that our increased intercourse with foreign nations is not the tesult of accident, but of that wise system of legislation which Parliament has seen the propriety of adopting in latter years; and that I may fairly hold eut to the ] Committee this increased produce of the revenue as arising from causes which may be assumed as the basis upon which to calculate the produce of the revenue for years to come?—(Hear, hear.) The next point to which I shall call the attention of the Committee, is one of the greatest rhoment, inasmuch as it tends in many ways to affect the domestic situation and general comforts of the nation. I allude to the Excise. And here again I hav: the satisfaction of stating that the produce of this branch of the Revenue for the last year, exceeds not only the produce of any former year, but what I had esti mated it at in the views which, at tl:e commencement of the Session, I communicated to the House. The estimate I made did not go beyond the amount of the preceding year, viz.2s 625,0001. whereas the actual amount is 26,768,000/. being 1,14.5,0001. beyond my es timate—(Hear). This I consider to be matter of con gratulation to every man who cares for the interests and comfort of those around him ; and when I am addressing the Legislature of the country, it is inipossille I should hesitate to asct ibe a desire for the welfare and happiness of the people whom they repre,ent— ( Hear. ) I have in my hands a paper which I need not trouble the House to read .at length, shewing the increase which has taken place upon every individual article of Excise Revenue s and indicating beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the course of policy which we ha% e pursued is conducive to the ease, the comfort, and the happiness of the people—(Hear). I do not know , whether I ought to trouble the House with such minute details; but, at all events it would not be a mere waste of time—(Hear hear). This paper shevis the propor tion in which the articles of Excise exceed in the amount of duty paid for the year 1824., the average of the three foregoing years. The first article is the Auction Duty, which is calculated upon the quantity charged :—this shews an increase of 12 per cent. above the three pre. ceding years—(Hear). The others are as follow : per Cent. I 1.5 20 40 15 91 a 31 Gi 20 12 10 ! . . and be sued in their joint capaci:y.—Mr. BAILING er i • Sir C. MORGAN presented a Petition from Monr praying a repeal of the !louse Duty. Similar Petitions i I • presented by Mr. C. DUNI)" from Warringford ;by HART, from the Parish of St. Edmonds, Oxfordshire ; Isl MAN, from the iobabitants of Bethnal Green ; arid by Mr. 110B110USE from the Parish of St, • in the Fields, Westminster. The Hon. Membe seining this Petition gated, that it was signed ir: less than two hours, by every household Strand, except six. Ile therefore requested the of the Chancellor of the Excheqner most pa to the subject of it, and to a fact that had occurred wii ; month—namely, hat although the Parish of St. Ann' but 1,400 houses, 100 distresses for King's Taxes had I these in the short period just mentioned. Mr. .11 A BER LEY supported the Petition, that opportunity to mention that the House ought r< decision upon the financial affairs of the country, unti which stood fot Thursday next was disposed of. Mr. NEW M AN presented a Petition from the town I against the Coal Duty. Air. Alderman WOOD presented a Petition from Catholics of the County of Monaghan, against the Bi passed that House for suppressing the Catholic Associat A Moats under the Gallery said, that he had two . the sawn subject; to present to the House, but had der so, as the Bill was now before the other House. Mr. GOOCH presented a Petition from Ipawich, fo the House and Window Duty.—.-A similar Petition wi by Sir T. Liernsatoce, from Lincote, in Somersetsh Lartutaince also presented a Petition from the Coun Somersrtshire, relative to the Bill for the Recovery of Sir E. K NATCHBULL presented two Petitions 1 I -1 wich ; one for a repeal of the Duty on Seaborne Coals fora repeal of the Assessed Taxes. Sir W. CURTIS presented a Petition from the Citi 1 ' don, praying a repeal of the Duty on Seaborne Coals. Mr. Alderman WOOD suppo:ted the pea . 1 Petition, and enlarged upon the advantages poor inhabitants of the Metropolis would de • A the remission of the duty on small coal in particular. f Mr. HART DAVIS presented a Petition from the f ' Mary, Ratcliffe, against granting any further concesaioi . • man Catholics. The Honourable Member in doing that the feelings of the people in that part of Englat C present generally adverse to emancipation. Sir RONALD FERGUSON could state, i t part of the country which he represented no tile feeling now existed, although the ielig people differed so widely from that of the and although formerly such a feeling certainly did exisl nary, he would boldly assert, that the mass of the friendly to Catholic Emancipation. Mr. MONCK presented a Petition from Reading, I the House and Window Duty. In one pari s h i n Bet bad been eighty-five appeal.: within the last month fro ss. on each cottage. Mr. DENISON presented a Petition from the p t beth, praying for a repeal of the Assessed Taxes, or repeal of the House and Window Denies. Mr. HOLME SUM NEIL supported the Petition '' Sir JO H N NEWPORT presented a Petition let of Kerry, in favour of the Roman Catholic Claims. : . The A TTORNEY. GENERA L presented a I'et , • town of Devonport, signed by upwards of 3,000 inhal respectability, against the Catholic Claims. Colonel BAGWELL presented a Petition f ( 1 . tholics of the Borough of Clonmel against t in the House of Lords for suppressing ti 1 Association ; and a similar Petition from tl of the parish of Tippet ary, in the baron william. He also presented a Petition Ire testants of Carrick.on-Suir in favour of 1 Claims.' The Honourable Member obser the same time with the Petition he had MCI • letters from the Catholics of Carrick-on-S . :f neighbourhood, expressing their most gr; for the spontaneous act of liberality to whi ( indebted to the Protestants. In mention cumstance he could not let the opportu ii. ,, 'reiterating a sentiment which. had lately fa Honourable Member for Hertfprdsifirc (Sii • pet Cent, . 15 Strong Beer . . 1-5 Skins Table Beer . 20 Linens Bricks . 40 Malt • filee 15 P..per Candles . 9j 64/Jp . Wai Candles 9 Sot t Soap Coffee . . . 3i British Spirits Cocoa Foreign ditto Glass Sweets Cider and Perry Tea Leather I Wrought Plata . IS Upon Salt, continued the 11 ight Honourable Gentle man, there has been some diminuti,:n, owing to the expectation confidently entertained that the duties upon that article were about to expire. But in every other article there has been an increase —(Hear). The next branch of the Revenue to which 1 shall advert, is the Stamps. The House bill recollect, that in the course of last year, after the first statement which I made to the Hou•.e relative to the duty on Law Stamps, I thought myself bound to propose the repeal of that duty, and I anticipated that it would cost the Revenue £200,000. — The amount of the produce of Stamps for last year I had estimated at 0,800,000, and I considered that one fourth only of the reduction of duty would actually be lost since the repeal was not to be operative before Oc tober. I expected, therefore, the produce of this part of the Revenue to be £6,750,000, but the actual amount is 1:7,244,000—(Hear, hear). 'Thus we have the ad vantages of cheap justice and no sacrifice of Revenue, we have gained a good, and sustained no loss. The Post Office return I had estimated at £'1,460,000; the real pro duce is C 1,520,000, an increase naturally to be expected, from the increased activity in the various departments of national industry, as seen in other parts of the Revenue. Although there were some individuals who thought that 1 was too sanguine in the view which I took of the re sources of the country, and feared that I should ex pose the Revenue to risk, when last year I proposed these reductions, every one, I hope, will now admit., that so far from exceeding the limits of my subject, I was in reality within bounds. Having, therefore, ex plained to the Committee the state of the Revenue of last year, as compared u ith the Estimate which I ven tured to submit to the House, I will now unfold the Estimate which I have formed for the present year, and explain thegrounds upon which I found it. In the fist place I will detail the figures, and then explain the ground upon which I make the calculation. I take, then, the whole receipt for 1825 at 56,445,3701. The total expenditure I take At 56,001,812/. giving a sur plus of 443,5281. Upon each of these items I will say a word or two. I take the Customs at 11,350,0001. a sum, which, the Committee will observe, exceeds the actual produce oflast year, the brit:Rinds of which I will explain. I think I have said enough to satisfy the House that there is nothing unreasonable in taking the financial results of 1824 as the basis of calculation, deducting those taxes which will come into operation this year. Taking, therefore, 11,327,7411. I add 50,0001. as the first benefit, to be derived from the reduction of certain bounties, which, upon the system lately adopted, Par liament has agreed to cut down. Then I add 460,0001. being the amount paid last year upon the stock of silk in hand. These being casual are not likely to occur again this year. A total is thus gained of 11,837,7411. From this, however, I think myielf bound to deduct 410,0001. for that portion of taxes which was remitted last year, and came into operation this year. The total probable Revenue, therefore, is 11,427,7411. but in or der to be within bounds, I take it at 11,350,0001. leaving as a sort of allowance 77,0001. The Excise I estimate at 26,400,0001. last year it was 26,768,0001. but I deduct from .this 237,0001. for the remission of the Salt Duty, and the duty on Rum, which was re• duced last year. This will give . us 26,531,0001. but I prefer, for the sake of caution, taking it at 26,400,0001. • 71 . 121 . 66 . 25 . 45 'the more moderate sum. The Stamps I put down at 7,100,0001. allowing for the completion of the reduo tion of Law Stamps 150,000/. The Assessed and Land Taxes I estimate at 4,875,000/. which is founded upon the most accurate calculation made at the Stamp Office. The Post Office I take at 1,500,0001. and Miscellaneous Revenue at 750,0001. I ought to state, that the Mis cellaneous is more this year than it is likely to be again, owing to a payment of one hundred thousand pounds to be made by the Netherlands, under a late Treaty relating to the East Indies. I add also a sum due by the Trustees of the Bank. These various items make the total Revenue for the present year 56,445,3701.-- I now turn to the.supposed expenditure: the charge on the Consolidated Fund I have set down at 37,610,3241. With respect to the Supply, I put the interest on Exchequer Bills at 820,000/. and the Army, including everything relating to it, at 7,911,7511. Ive Navy I have put down at 5,983,1261. the Ordnance is 1,376,6411. and the Miscellaneous, 2,300,0001. 1 mar here mention that these is a sum between 200,0001. and 300,000/. that we shall be under the necessity of paying to the United States, on account of teveral slaves being received into our possessions, by a Lich they became free, and consequently a loss was sustained by their former proprietors; the justice of the claim was ac knowledged by us, and the question has been referred to the Emperor of Russia, and the sum fixed upon is somewhere ab , mt 250,000/. The result, then, of this estimate is, that there will be a surplus of 44.3,5281. and I consider the whole of these calculations to apply si milarly to the two succeeding years, 1826 and 1827. My calculations for those two years are as follow : The Receipts for 1826, 55,195,000/. the Expenditure, 55,330,324/. leaving a balance of 864,6761. F. r the year 1827, the Receipts will be 56.360,000/. the Expenditure 55,105,324/. leaving a balance of 1,251,676/. making a total surplus, on the four years, of 4 000 624/. The reason why I have calculated that the revenue of 1827 will be larger than that of 1826, arises from an increase I expect in the Customs. The Committee are aware that, in the discussion Aids took place la-t Sestion on the duties on sugar, it ap peared that a considerable sum was paid as bcunty on the exportation of that article ; and according to the scale of duties paid, it was evident that the Li unty on the exportation exceeded the amount of duty paid by three shillings in the hundred weight. When a discus sion arose on a former occasicn, those duties were laid on an ascending scale, according to the price, so that while the duty was no more than 275. the drawback amounted to 30s. Now, I contend, that tl.is arrange ment re,ted upon no sound principle; for foreign Powers, who saw out error in this point, were disposed to take advantage of it; and by laying additional duties on sugars exported from England, and imported into their States, they put these three shillings bounty into their.owii treasury. The Committee will admit, that the continuance of such a system on our part would be absurd. However, it may perhaps inter fete with >everal existing interests to have this drawback or bounty re pealed all at once; I shall therefore propose that, {tom the 26th of July, 1826, it should cease altogether ; and that the scale of ascending duties should also cease to exist. It is true, that this regulation may affect some interests, but it is right to state chat those interests may be cents pensated on other points by a reduction of the duties on other articles of their produce—(Heer, hear). The result of the calculations which I have detailed to the Com mittee ate, that there is a surplus from 1814, of 1,437,714/. from 1825, of 443,528/. from 1826, of 864,6761. from 1827, of 1,254,6761. being a total of 4,000,6241. When I made this calculation last year, I was asked what I would do with the surplus ? I now answer that a great deal may be done with it, and I think I can satisfy the House that the application of it which I shall recommend, will be most advantageous, looking to all the interests of the country. I have three objects in view in the application of our surplus revenue in those years. The first is to extend our commerce, by increasing the facility. of consumption of foreign , produce in this country ; the next is the cart ping farther the attempts which have been made to ester minate that monstrous evil, smuggling—(Hear, hear) and the third is the remission of a portion of t:irtet taxes, provided I am not driven by that to an abandon ment of the two other points, which I consider of much more importance to the general interests of the county than the pat tial remission of direct taxes. I know well the feelings which are entertained on this subject. I know it is said that-Minivers might obtain a great ac cession of popularity by the repeal of the assessed taxes. I do not wish for popularity when it is to be obtained at the expense of the better interests of the country; and those interests would be sacrificed if the two points to which 1 have adverted are neglected. To come to the first of these point, that of an extension of our commerce with foreign nations—it is to be observed, that the House has already admitted the principle, by the good sound sense it displayed in getting rid of many of those prohibitory duties which so long fettered our intercourse with foreign nations.—Much, I admit, has been already done in this respect, but much still remains to be done; and I hope that no great length of time will elapse before my Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Hoskisson) will have to submit a motion for the repeal of the whole of the duties on foreign pro duce —( Hear, bear). lam satisfied that such a mea sure would not interfere injuriously with our domestic produce, but will in the end, be found of the utmost advantage to every class of the community. It is un necessary to go into the detail of all the articles of fo reign produce upon which the very high, and, in many cases, the prohibitory duties ought to be withdrawn, but there is one upon which I cannot avoid saying a few words—l mean foreign iron. The price of iron has lately risen to an enormous height, not from any new speculation in that article—not from any belief that the country is to be covered with iron rail-roads, and that all the iron which could be dug out of the bowels of the earth would be required to supply the demand ;• but from a general increase of trade produced by the in creased and increasing comforts and prosperity of the people in this and other nations. -The fact is, the !up ply of iron in this country is not at all in proportion t.(3 the demand ; and there are, at this moment,foreign ordet s in Sheffield and Birmingham, which cannot be executed. because the manufacturers there cannot supply the ar ticles at the price which the foreign customers could afford to pay. The consequence is, that several such orders have been withdrawn, and are sent to other countries, where, though they could not be executed in the same good style, yet, as being much cheaper, they are preferred by those who cannot afford the higher price. Swell Jt is not sound policy in this country to continue restrictions w hich have the effect of thus crippling a very important branch of her nianufactur:?, and 1 think the interests of the community will be best consulted by reducing the duty from 71. to 11. 10s. As .