The Sun. — London, England, 1823-09-12 00:00:00

I r frr -7,-,' ''):,:.:, ✓ tiA , N i . . .:. _..... ,'..... ~A , . „ . .. . , • - - - ' lA , , tZ tii: 7- ,, - . p4l . ~ k ,„. ,„.. . r ' , • r -... • ~0 ,94; ', - ;1 . , . ... S 111 N. ... ~•2,...,,,,,, ..:, • ..... `5 ,. , _,.,,._ ~ . . • ..„;.., ~„....„ $- ;., $ ,•11 , .. , • . ... ... . • ,--- ). ' :.,,- Z.," ' ) 11- 71.‘-- . , ~. •-,,,,,, , 6 tbilki - r‘A-1.19 4-17‘01F-L4i--i .. ,:// 2 , d . ... ..: , 7 . i~ g / ~~'. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1823. PR4cE s i.r.o.4Plll4'qt. NUMBER 9689. I 'IGTV.,,f LLING-OFFICE, August 7, 1823. THE COMMISSIONERS for VICTUAL . LING His MAJESTY'S NAVY do hereby give No. lice. That on Thursday, the OM of SeptemPirr next, they will be ready to receive Tenders in writim,r (sealed lip), and treat for the supply, on separate Contracts, of such quantity of PRIME IRISH BEEF and I'ORK, in Navy Threes, of the ensuing Season's cure, as may be demanded for the use of his Majesty's Troops at GIBRALTAR GRENADA ANTIGUA TOBAGO BARBADOES TRINIDAD IERBICE ST. LUCIA DEMERARA ST. Ktrys DOMINICA St. VINCENT for Twelve Months certain, from the 24th June, 1821. It is estimated that the quantity which may probaVy be re quired ?nay be equal to.' aimut 3,900 Tier'ces of Becl, and 4,10 Pork but information will be hereafter given to the eontractors of the actual quantities to be sets , out; and the Terms of the Contracts may be seen at this Oftice, or by ap plying to Mr. J. Dulaterrille, .Igent for the Victualling at Haulhowline, port was subsequently added by the Warehousing Act of the 43d George 111. leaving it freely to act for itself, and to follow its own conve nience, without compulsory restraint or direction, it only re mained that they should satisfy themselves, whether the prac tical utility of the-Dock Establishment was not compatible with a system to, which the adv an ta ge s of competition can be safely afforded. On the subject of security, which appears to yoUr Committee to involve the whole question of comparative preference, be tween an exclusive and an open system,, there Is a great variety of evidence from persons every way entitled to attention, con sisting both of merchants, revenue Officers, and otherit. On one side it is stated, that not only the regulations and conduct of the West India Docks are as perfect as such an in stitution is capable of being made (which your Committee ate disposed to admit) ; that they have answered every purpose that was expected from them ; and that, from the circum stances of the trade, if the exclusive privilege is not continued, the same security, either to the revenue or the trade, could not be attained. • affect the merchant and proprietors, who would readily find the means of discontinuing the use of any dock in which the mer chandise consigned to it was not sufficiently protected against fraud and depredation. Another point which, in the course of their proceedings, has occupied much of the consideration of your Committee, and has thrown some difficulty in the way of 'their decision, is the fund that appears to have been accumulated to a large amount in the hands of the West India Dock Company, from the excess of their receipts above their expenditure. The amount of this fund, by the last account rendered to. Parliament, was 393,0101. 2s. 7d. subject to. all the outstanding demands against the Company. On this amount,. however, a good deal of question has arisen. On the part of the Planters, it was urged, that the works were limited to a certain time in which they were to be completed, and a certain suns of money which was to be expended upon them ; and that although the words " ex tensions and improvements" are used in the clause directing the application of the _funds received by the Company, that extension and improvement had reference; only to the original works, and did not include new and distinct buildings for the accommodation of trade ; that, therefore; the cost of all their works, and the purchase of ground connected with them beyond those of the original plan, was in effect an increase of the Capital beyond the suns to which it is limited, and should be carried to the amountof the surplus. It was also contended, that 'in addition to this, the sum paid by the Company iu discharge of the income tax on the dividends should be included as a part of the same surplus, as well as some smaller sums stated in the accounts. With reference to the application of the Ca pital of the Company to the discharge of the income tax arising on the dividends, it has already been the subject of con sideration • and animadversion to a tanner Committee' in the year 1810, in the sentiments of which your Committee have only to express their concurrence. With respect to the works, whatever doubts your Committee might have entertained as to the extent of the discretion intended to be given by the Act, under the words " extension and improvement," had it reste d upon the original Act alone, they feel themselves relieved front them by the subsequent acts of the 42d and 44th George the preambles to which either recite the completion of, or contemplate the most material improvements made ; and the application % of surplus rates to defray them is recognized and sanctioned. With this authority, your Committee cannot deem those applications to be an expenditure unimportant to the purposes of the institution and the interests of the West India Trade, or that the suns ought to form an addition to the accu. ululated fund, for which the claim on the part of the public is preferred. _ In referring to the evidence adduced before your. Commit tee, it will be observed that a considerable part of it tends to show the advantages derived from the establishment of closed docks, both to the revenue and trade of the country, as com pared to the system that previously prevailed. The value of these Institutions, whether in giVing facility to commerce, in securing the collection of the revenue, or in protecting the in terests of the merchant, is so unquestionable, that your Com mittee feel it would be an unnecessary waste of time to enter into any detailed discussion on that branch of the subject ; and the more ko, as the question of a recurrence to the for mer imperfect system does not appear to your Committee to be at all involved in that of discontinuing or prolonging the exclusive privilege enjoyed at present by the West India , Dock Company. The maintenance and encouragement of the Dock establish ments are objects of equal interest to all parties concerned in the commerce of the country ; and the principal question for the consideration of your Committee appeared to be, whether the advantages confessedly resulting from them could be pre, served to the public most effectually under a system of exclu. sive privilege, granted to each Dock respectively, by which the tride should be by law divided and apportioned ; or one of competition, operating freely amongst them, in which the con venience of commerce, whether arising from local position, re. gtilation, orcharges, should be alone the measure of employ ment and advantages enjoyed by each several establishment. The points into which the subject may be divided, and to which the evidence in the Appendix applies, are very nume rous. The material ones however, and those on which the de cision appeared to your Committee to rest, were those only which are connected with the security and facility-of collec tion of the revenue, and protection of the property of the met- Chant, inseparable from it; and how far these advantages are dependent either generally, or in the case of the 'West India trade in particular, upon the continuance of the system of ex clusive privilege. On the other, it is stated, by authorities equally respectable, that the regulations and system ofthe London Dock Company, though, from the circumstance of its admitting more general trade, they must be offs nature adapted to that diference, have yet been found practically sufficient for the necessary protec tion both of the Revenue of the Crown, and the property con signed to them i • and that arrangements could be made for de posing West India produce, both with them and the Commer cial Docks, with perfect safety. The evidence adduced before your Committee may bedivided into that of witnesses who speak exclusively to the West India Docks ; who speak exclusively to each of the other Docks; and to those who, in some degree, speak with a know ledge of both. The officers and others connected with the West India Docks have confessedly spoken from little, or with very imperfect knowledge of the practical effect of any other system than that with which they had been concerned ; their evidence is positive as to the merits of the West India Docks us applicable to West India ships and produce ; and in speak ing of the defects of any other system with which they admit themselves to have no adequate means of comparison, they state merely their belief, founded on a difference from that system which tl ey consider as essential to the due protection of the particular trade. On the other hand, the evidence of those who speak to the conduct of business in the London. Docks is equally positive in denying that the defects attributed, conjecturally, to a more open system, are found practically to exist ; that although at one time, from the defect of the system, and the conduct of the Revenue Officers, goods had been delivered without pay mens ofduty, since the reform then introduced, no depreda tion on the property, or difficulty in the collection of the Re= venue, is known to have occurred. In the event, however, of no Tender being received for the delivery of this Meat at the senral Stationi which the Board may deem proper to accept, they trill be read", on the follow sips- day, viz. tlw 2Gth Septem)er, at One o'Clock, to receive Tenders and treat for the .supply of an equal quantity of Beef and Por&respeclively, to be delivered into 'their Stores at Deptford be, ween the Ist February and 30th April, 1824. No regard be had to an!, Tender in which the Price shall not be, ins.erted in words at length, or that shall not be delivered to .the Board before One o'Cloch on the . said Thursday, the 25th of Sep'ember next, nor 'unless the Person who makes the Teude:y,' or some Person on his behalf; attends to answer when called for. The accumulation of the surplus Fund, and the mode in which it has taken place, the !louse will observe, has been the subject of much discussion before your Committee ; on the one hand, it has been adduced as a proof of the extravagance of the rates exacted by the Company; and, on the other, it is stated to have arisen from an accession of importation much beyond any calculation previously formed, and owing to particular political circumstances, during the operation of which, those importations occurred and remained in the ware houses of the Company; and that so far from the rates being too high, had the rates been confined to the produce of our own colonies, which could alone be calculated upon, the surplus would not have exceeded the sum of 36,000/., a sum certainly less than necessary to provide for annual repairs and contin lencies, to which works and buildings of such a description' are iable. B ac k T en d er nts ( L ye accompanied hg: a Letter .vigned 6-y two 7 1 hpensible Person 4 engaging to become bound with the Path/ tendering, thc Penal Sam of 331. 6s. 6d. per cent. on Me whole amount of cool' Contract, for the thie perform ance of the same. 31. 11"441.1.Ell CLIFTON. Of the•witnesses who appear to have some knowledge of both Establishments, some seem to give a preference to the protection afforded by the West India Docks, in consequence of the exclusion apeman% from the Quay, and the separation of the Import and Export Dock. Others rather incline to be lieve there may be some advantage from particular regula tions (on which, koretver, there exists a difference of opinion), and some of the Officers of the Revenue speak confidently to equal or sufficient security being to be found in both Establishments; and (as stated by one), that to neither can a decisive preference be given. In reference to this point, your Committee called for the establishments of the Excise and fiustoms maintained for the protection of the revenue in each of the Docks respectively. In the London Docks the establishment of the Excise is nearly the same as in the West • India Docks, the excess being rather in the latter; while that of the Customs - in the West India Docks falls very far short of that employed in the .London Docks. The revenue col lected too in the West India Docks is much more consi derable, and collected at eless per centage than that in the London Docks. The difference however of the systems pur sued in these two Docks, necessarily arising from the differ ence in the nature of the trade received into the one and the other, makes it impossible to drawany conclusion from the cir cumstances adverted to, of the opinion entertained by the re venue departments, in regard to the cOmparative security belong in to each. I • t has alreadybeen stated, that th e p r ospect of gr eat an d otherwise unattainable advantages to the public interests. in cunt. stibly shewu by those who claimed exclusive privilege, could alone warrant a departure from the principle of open competition. Thu particular advantage in this case could only be shown, in the inseparable connex i on o f t h ose p r i v il eges w ith the security of the collection of the public revenue, and the property of the merchant. That such advantage is not to be found alone in the exclusive system of the West India Dock Company, the result of the testimony received by your Com mittee, and to which they beg to refer, appears to them clearly to establish. Whatever merits may belong to the system of the Weit /tulle Docks in other respects (and your Committee are ready to do it ample justice), they feel that they are insufficient to redeem this defect, or to warrant them in recommending a continuance of an unnecessary compulsion upon one branch of the commerce of the country, which might involve in it a simi lar compulsion upon others, and ultimately lead to a general system of restriction and monopoly. Your Committee do not feel it necessary to enter into any detail upon the various subordinate points that have been in troduced, connected with the question of comparative dispatch and accommodation, and the particular utility of the provisions mile at one or other of the Docks; these will be found All these provisions de scribed in the evidence.(independently of those which are applicable only to a Dock, confined to a limit ed description of merehandize) are capable of being extended, if thought expedient, to any other establishment. MEDICAL SCHOOI, ()F GUY'S HOSPITAL. THE AUTUMNAL COURSE of LEC TURE•; will Corninvoce th v 3d of OCTOBER, viz.:- -pnAcnun of MEDIUN E, by Dr. CHOLMELEY. ,CHEMISTRY, by Mr. ALLEN, Mr. AIKIN, and Dr. 130- STOCK. EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOWY, by Mr. ALLEN and Professor MILLINGTON, • THEORY of MEDICINE and MA TERIA MEDICA, by Dr. CHOLMELEY and Dr. BACK. MIDV% IFERY, and DISEASES of WOMEN and CHIL DREN. by Dr. BLUNDELL, lIHYSIOLOGY, or LAWS of the ANIMAL (ECONOMY, by Dr. BLUNDELL. STRUCTURE, and DISEASES of the TEETH, by Mr. BELL. --- And MEDICAL BOTANY in the Spring, by Dr. BRIGHT. A COURSE of CLINICAL LECTURES. so► highly im portant to the Medical Student, will'be delivered this season. N.B. These several . Lectures, with those on Anatu►uy, and on the - Principles and Practice of Surgery, given at St. Thomas's Hospital adjoining, are so ►trranged as not to inter fere with each other 'in-the hours of attendance, nor with the Medical or Surgical Practice of the Hospitais ; and the whole is calculated to form a Complete Course of Medical and Chirurgical Instruction. Particulars may be learnt from Mr. Stocker, Apothecary to Guy's Hospital, who is empowered to receive entrance Money for any of these Lectures. This Day were published, In French and English, neatly printed in Crown Ovo., price 10s. 6d. in extra boards, embellished with Two Portraits of Madame Panam and of the Prince of Cobourg, MEMOIRS of a YOUNG GREEK LADY, or Madame PAULINE ADELAIDE ALEXAN DRE PANAM versus His Serene Highness the Reigning Prince of SAXE COI3OURG. Printed for Sherwood, Jones, and Co.,.Paternoster.row ; and J. VP 43, New Bond-street. " Madame Panam is one of the most successful candidates of the day for pUblie notoriety. Her Memoirs, under the above interesting title, having already made the tour of the Continent, have now crossed the Channel to us, and are likely to be quite as much read as the next Novel by the Author of Waverley. Many celebrated characters of the day appear in her work. '—(Morning Chroniclg.) . PARLIAMENTARY PAPER. REPORT from the SELECT COMMITTEE appointed to consider of the Means of Improving and Maintaining the FOREIGN TRADE of the COUNTRY. WEST INDIA DOCKS. The Select Committee appointed to consider of the means of maintaining and improving the Foreign Trade of the Country, and to report their opinion and observations thereupon to the house, and to whom the several Petitions, which were presented to the House in the last Sestion of Parliament, on the subject of the extension of the excluSive privileges of the West India Dock Company, were referred, have ,agreed to the, following Report : Your Committee having taken into consideration the peti tions referred to them, and continued their investigation the close of the last Session, have thought it their duty on their re appointment to apply themselves immediately to the further prosecution of the inquiry which had been interrupted by the .prorogation. In the course of their proceedings they have called, for various documents which were calculat,ed to throw light upon. the subject of their investigation, and have exa mined a great variety of witnesses, as well in support of the allegations contained in the Petition of the Wesi India Dock Company, as of those in the other. Petition S -tha t, have been re ferred to them ; the respective Prayers of whi4ll involved the expediency of further continuing the exclt . !sive privileges granted to the West India Dock Company by the 39th (leorge Under this Att the Dock in questio4 was construct ed - A. and the Subscribers were eonstituttd a Joint Stock Couqatiy, by . the name of " The West India Dock Com pany.." Certain conditions were at the name time imposed upon them, in respect to the amount of the sum to be raised its a Capital or Joint Stock ; the period wi.hin which wcirks sere to be completed ; the amount or the Dividend to wilich tbey were to be entitled, and the application. of the sur. plus s ltecoipts, if any. should exist. In addition to these, was a clause °lmpelling all \Vest India ships to land their cargoes in this Dock for . the term of twenty-orre years: and the privi. lege of wa.r.:ltousiog all West India produce brought to this The advantage to the Public of open competition where. ever applicable, will not as a general principle be questioned. It is not, however, to be adopted without limitation, or to be presumed that various cases may not present them selves, in which a departure from that principle may not be of such importance to the public interests, as to be fully warranted by every consideration of ' prudence and expe diency. 'rlds was the case in the original - establishment of the Docks, when it was necessary to hold Out liberal com pensation to those who invested their capital . irf a *cu . lation which, whatever advantages it might evtlititall y promise to the Adventurers and the Public, was, in its; commencement, of.doubtful success. It appears, however, t your Commit tee, that admitting the existence of cases to t vhich this excep tion applies, it belongs to the parties solicitivg exclusive psi. an especial cis ice: exists in the vileges, to shew that so strong particular instance, as to offer advantages sutfi cient to prepon derate against the generally recognized benetii principle of competition. In the present case, all the claims that arise ft out the hazard of doubtful experiment, which originally reem •nmenited the grant of exclusive privileges, have long vanishe d. The suc cess of' the experiment is decisively ascertained —the invest ment of capital ha; been fully compeilsated —ant the :Oven tees of Docks are universally acknowladged. To sustain the Clam, i therefore, it must have been shet , rn, that th e r e i s some thing n the nature of the trade received into the % 'est India Docks, that indispensably requires a particular sys. tem of se parate accommodation, protection, and managetnen t, or that the advantage derived to the Public from the Dock vstem it inseparably dependent upon a continuance of exclusi;. ve privi lege* to each of the various establishments. - In confining their Report and opinion chiefly to these points, your Committee feel that they shall best consult the ins mtions of the House, in the reference made to them ; and they i :re the more inclined to this course, because, if the House shouh I con cur with them in their view on these questions, and ados the conclusion to which they have come, the various subord irate points will be, as it appears to your Committee, sulEci mtly provided for in the practical measures that must obviousl y re sult from it. Much evidence has been adduced to show the 'perfectits t of the system, and the value of the regulations introduced • and practised in the %permanent of'the 'West India Docks ; and the effect produced by them in affording security to the col. lection of the revenue, protection to the property of the merchant, and facility in the conduct of his business. \I ith some alight exceptions in the latter point, your Connie tee are disposed to give a ready concurrence to all the clal ms preferred by flie Directors of' the Dock Company on this he ad. Both from tl evidence they have received, and from their p er sonal observation, they can venture to state, that no Establi sit ment of tbi4 kind can, in their opinion, surpass, in these par ti i cu lars, the establishment of the West India Docks ; but it is • not the positive excellence alone which it is their duty to consl tier —it is ties comparative, or rather exclusive, excellence bele lig- ' ing to tis6in that must be regarded, and by which the grow ads of their decision are to be furnished. And here, your II im mittee .cannot but observe, that whatever degree of' perfect ion, in respell to dispatch and regularity, May distinguish the V Vest India Dock, great facility towards these objets is incident to the w arehousing in that Dock being confined to the cargos s of peculiar ships, and the articles of merchandise to a compara tive:or confined number ; and to this circumstance of strict I iini tat'ion, in respect to goods and ships, it must be ascribed, if' evAtctly the saute degree of perfection in the conduct of buti n,ess, and in the classification of merchandise, is not tv , ',mind, nor is, indeed, atttainable in a Dock of more extensive use, and more general resort. Admitting the advantages arising from this circumstance, your Committee has directed its attention to ascertain. how e ar the very strict measures of pr e caution adopted the West India Dock are necessary to the chief practical purposes of the Dock Establishment, and whether the effect of the system of ex clusion and separation, which is said alone to admit of these precautions, so much exceeds in value to the public interests, the more open system prevailing in other Docks, as to call for its preservation, if involving the continuance of a general system of' exclusive protection, as it appears to your Com mittee must be: the consequence of maintaining it in this instance. In proceeding to offer an opinion to the con trary, your Committee are fully prepared to believe that the Directors of the West India Dock Company, in contieti ing against alteration, are actuated by no feeling of pecu niary interest,—that their interests, in fact, as Pl; or Merchants, ire infinitely superior to any they can have anter as Dock Directors; and that they are influenced only by-their impres sion of the utility and advantage of this Establishment, us affect ing the public through the peculiar branch of commerce to which i t is appropriated ; increased, perhaps, not unnaturally, by a solicitude for the preservation of that, which they have, with great care and attention, fostered and brought nearly to perfection. If, i n deed, your Cotnrnittee could take the same view as that entertained ,by the Dock Directors, of, the particular re gulations established i n the Xi •iest hulks Duel, and consider the security a rising from them, as the effect of their exclusive privileges, -or could they believe that there was any thing SO peculiar in the West India Trade that, without the extreme perfection of their institution, the public purposes far which the Dock was intended could not be accomplished, they ahould not hesitate in the recommendation they should offer to the House ; but believing that the perf'ection (however admi rable) is carried, in some particulars, beyond w h a t is ne cessary to the purposes either of security or est:minutiae tion, and that there is no peculiarity in the nature of the trade in question which sa distinguishes it from -other trades as to counterbalance their conviction that the public intetests are best secured in all matters connected with trade, by There are two things, however, on which much stress has been laid on the park ut the Dock Company, and to which your Committee therefore deem it tight to advert. One, the elassi. liCation of the several articles of merchandise, as facilitating' the operation of the ►merchant, anti the duties of the Revenue Officer. The.other,' the removal of the crews from the ships, (inapplicable to DockS of general resort), as the best security against depredation, and as conducing also to dispatch it un loading the cargom With respect to the first, although the sante perfection of classification is incompatible with the admission of the articles of g►eneral trade, which is easily effected with respect to those of a single brach of it ; it is to be collected, from the testi monies of those who have been examined, that it is eflbcted in the London Docks, sufficiently for those purposes for which it is alone Important, and is therefore applicable to any establish ment of a similar nature. _ With respect to the second, both of the particular merits at tributed to it, are, from the evidence, subjects of question.._ Whether the discharge of ii ship is performed with greater promptitude' and facility by hired laboorers under th e inspee non of the officers of the Duck Company, or by the seamen under the inspection of their own officers, your Committee en tertain considerable doubt; While, as far as it appears, there is no reason to believe that the continuance of the cr e w s on b oar d leads to habitual depredation. An objection, indeed has been , stated to th e removal of the younger part of the crews front their ships ; but in order to provide against the danger that might be justly apprehended to the morals and good conduct of the up. prentices in consequence of such removal from them without employment, and freed from controul and discipline, a vessel has been provided by the Admiralty, which the Directors of the West India Dock Company halm P,rePered for the accom modation of 400 boys, who are received upon application, and and during the time they remain, have the advanta ges of care education. The largest number of boys that at any one time have taken the benefit of this establishment, your Committee are informed, has not exceeded above half the number it is ca pable of admitting. 'our Committ ee , i n recommending the ad opt i on of an open system of competition in preference to one founded on exclu sive privileges, cannot Dinh a reference to the testimonies objection the West India borne by Gentlemen deeply interested in the qtiestion, to the advantages of the West India Docks, which accord with the strong teeling expressed by the Dock Directors, and are desir particular branch Of trade they to ons ti no le v t o t i o n b in e n u an nt ee ters of toot as l in a u s c hn i t ) e r ng e ng reg M o c it o ti n o v n e v y t ittonywhich such moderation of i lTor Pu k rtu D l ir e e e ett a s t , ta m eh a e y d b' e 4s f s e ‘ uti tl e l4e ll l P is4ctrie b l e " w 7 t f h the interests of attended to nu the • part of the Deck the Company, and useful to the ilre m il,e i si t h w r t p u et r . r t ec t e o lv e in ver g' y paint the! r,elittes . to charges mitt the accomtnadation et ttte Nterchant, th e b est. security for these being Companies, will be the interest of those who may be ind„ „,d to lodge th e i r goods lu the Parke; DOT are we ei) prehensive that this can be c u r r ied to tot improper len gt h, or became,us has been thrown out, a competition of indulgences danger. ous to the Revenue. Against this, the known respectability of those to whom the management of each establishment is in trusted, and the consideration, that the interetes of the Docks° are bound up with the interest of the Public is a su ffi c i ent protection--whatever can affect the Revenue must equ3ny Your Committee,, however, must observe, that this calcula tion appears to be formed by inclnding the payment of all those buildings which have beenerected, and paid for out of the rates, which, although subsequently sanctioned by Parliament, are in this view to be considered as surplus, and so considered, do not appear to your Conimittee to bear out the expression that the rates, although not unreasonable in themselves, have been as moderate as they rnight have been had the Dock Company availed itself of the means the accession of trade above alluded to afforded them of relieving the trade by reduction. The manner of the accumulation, however, in the apiniOn of your Committee, does not all affect the right of the Poblic, under the law, to din full benefit of it. The Act of Mg' Which directs the appropriation of the Funds in the hands,iorthe Company, enacts, That t h e afore said stun of Five hundred thousand Pounds, subseribesi or in, tended to be subscribed or contributed by the said West India Dock Company for their Capital or Joint Stock, and all other Monies which shall be hereafter subscribed by them Cur in creasing their capital as aforesaid, together with the several sums of Money to be produced and received by and from, anti raised and borrowed piton credit of, the Rates and Du ties granted or made payable to the said Company by this Act, shall form and become one aggregate consolidated Fund: and all the Monies which shall be subscribed, col lected, received, levied, raised and borrowed by the said Corn. pony, or by the said Directors, by virtue or in pursuance of this Act ? shall be applied and disposed of, in the first place, in paying the remaining equal half part or share of the Charges and }lxpences incident to and incurred in obtaining and pass ing this Act, and afterwards in paying and discharging the consideration or purchase-money and the other costs and charges incident to the purchasing and obtaining convey ances of the messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, which by virtue or in pursuance of this Act shall be pur chased for the use of, and conveyed or vested in trust for, the said NVest India Dock Company as aforesaid; and in the next place in paying the interest of the monies which shalt be borrowed by the said Company upon the credit of the last mentioned Rates and Duties, if any shall be so borrowed, and the interest or dividends upon the principal monies, - which for. the time being shall be so subscribed by the members of the said Company, and actually paid as aforesaid, or Upon their Capital or Joint Stock, and in paying such yearly or other sums of money as are herein before directed to he paid by the said West India Dock Company, as and for compensations for losses and deficiencies of tithes, taxes, sewer rates, and other rates and assessments; and subject thereto, then in defrayin g the necessary charges and expencea of making, completing, maintaining and supporting, and attending, muhaging and regulating the said docks, bacons, cuts, quays, wharfs, ware houses, and other works, which are to be made anti done by the said Directors in pursuance of this Act; and of any such extensions and improvements of the same respectively, as the said Directors may, from time to time, think necessary ; and that the residue or surplus of such monies shall front time to time be employed in or towards the repayment of the principal monies, which shall be borrowed by the said Company upon the credit of the said rates anti duties hereby granted to them, until all the same principal monies shall be repaid, and in et towards executing such of the other purposes of this Act, as are to be executed by the said Directors, or by and at the charges of the 'West India Dock Company ; and when by the means last mentioned or otherwise, the principal monies so to be borrowed by the said Company shall be all repaid as aforesaid, then and in such case, the rates and duties by this Act granted to the said Company, shall be lowered in the manner herein before directed, as far as the name can, under the then exist-. in g circumstances, be done with prudence and safety." No exception is tootle in respect to the manner in 'which any residue or surplus tehall have arisen. A surplus (from whatever source (kneed) is alone contemplated, and its appli cation peremptorily prescribed, after the demands upon the CoMpany are satisfied, The demands on the Company, which were an obstruction to their acting on this clause,as it appears, have been at length dischargeti (and why they were not chi charged at as early a period as the st a t e of their affairs per. mitted, has not been satisfactorily explained).; they are, therefore, in the condition contemplated by the Act, and may be called upon to relieve the Trade by a reduction of rates. In the justice of this call your Committee are happy to observe the Dock Company readily acquiesce; they have in deed already reduced their rates considerably ; first, in the year 1817, and still further in the list year ; anti it has been signified to your Committee that they are prepared to carry the additional reduction of Rates prescribed by the law into effect, in such manner as may appear most con4ciye to the public interests, and most in conformity to' the in - minted in tentions of the Legislature in framing the provisiona of the Act relative to any surplus that might accrue to them. 'With a view to this, they have themselves submitted to your Crun mittee a proposition for such a reduction of. the rates as should bring the sum o f 393,910/., now in thei r h an d s , to t he sum.~at. MAW (deemed necessary as a reserve to meet enn ti nge n• cies), after th e completion of certain course of rather let s th an t h re e years, bong the period at which the exclusiie privil ege o f t h e London- Dock Company will expire, . specified repairs, M the The detailed proposition submitted by the West India Dock Directors will be found` in the Appendix to this Report. It is one which your Committee, after much , consideration; hag re:. solved to rectunnend to the approbation of the House, as, un.. tier all circumstances, appearing to them best calculated to meet the public interest, to remedy the error into which the Dock Company hail fallen in the accumulation of such a suf.. plus, ant to provide against the inconveisiepees ant. other ap e plication itught occasion. The Act of Parliament has It dearly in contemplation' ;Rid no large 'surplus should be accumulated, by , the provieioSi ldipe t any which should be found to exist, After 40111 c apecitic isp'pko,, priations of the monies, received by the Dock Companyesholitf lead to a reduction of the rates. The rcoloctiOn of rates; 'WA the Act been literally executed, would have been for the ca l elusive benefit of the importets of West India produce. Tt,,,, Proyosition, therefore, although not perhaps conveying the be• neht to the same individuals, is so far in amfonnity in the sp; 4 sit and intention of the law, as that the Wiest IniliaTrade .will receive the benefit of it, unless voluntarily relinquished.." That the reduction of the surplus should take place within the lie rafted period assigned, and by a large diminution of the' rates, your Committee feel ,to be rendered necessary by the eitea. don in which the other Decks will be placed on the ezpiratiete of t'seir respective Charter.. In their resolution not to re coniMend to the House a continuance of the exclusive 'pri vileges to the %Vest India Dock Cempany, your ,Cotor e ite tee had in view the estahlishment of a general competition among the Dock Establishments, at that period. In. such a. competition the power of applying of such a lerce sure: to the reduction of rates below the amount for which the business of the Dock could be profitably conducted, ifiwir have a most injurious operation ; and would, in fact,. elm ~ hit the Dock Company which posseeeed it, to cast the l*tanc of competition in its own favour. While the exclusive . priii. leges ot those Docks are in operation, while competition is'yet . ' fettered by legal restraint, such a power is of comparatively, little moment, and can have no. ultimate influence on the corn . petition which it appears to your Committee so desirable to' establish. Another reason has also had its effect on your Cott 4 rnittee in inducing them to approve the proposed arrangement. It appears to possess an advantage in tending to obviate are inconvenience resulting from the adoption of the recommende. tion offered by theniivhich they could not but feel. It is true, that if the continuance of the exclusive privilege, was withhold ; there could he, in point of justice, no claim on the part, of the West India Dock Proprietors. The pledge of the Public has been redeemed, and the Company have received all they can . tracted for, in the maintenance of their exclusive privilege. during the terns specified, But it will not escape the observe-. tion of the llotise e that they must be exposed to considerable inconvenience if they should be compelled to meet a -corn petition wsth those who, for a limited period, are in possession of exclusive privileges ; which privileges secure to the Docks possessing them the whole of particular trades, a propoitiol of which might come to the West India Dock, while they will? ate the same time have a chance of receiving a part of that, of eviiie4 those Docks have by law , now 'the exclusive possession. To avoid this evident disadvantage, your Committee considered how far it might be expedient either to continuo the exclusive Wert to the est India . Docks to the period of th e expira tion of that of the L o ndon Dock Company, unless that Company should be disposed to relinquish, during the remaind e r o f their term, the exclusive privileges now possessed by them. You; Committee have found that such relinquishment is not practi cable, either on their part, or on that of any other Company similarly circumstanced. It appears to them, however, that under the proposed application of the sarplus fun d,, any extension of the operation of the compulsory clauses in the Act of the 39 Geo. ill. is not necessary, as that application must so operate upon the rates in respect to West India produce, during . the terns of the exclusive privileges poseeesed by the London , Dock Company, as to leave a Docks proportion of the. West India Trade to the West India nearly as etfeettially at could be done by a continuance of the clauses referred to, and fully to counterbalance the advantages derived to the. London Dock from receiving and' warehousing the several articles neve strictly by law appropriated to it. Although the tendency of this arrangement is, in fact, par. tially to continue the system of exclusive privileges among the 119elte for two or three years to come, your Committee, under the conviction of' the advantages that would be derived from an ' open competition, are anxious that die operation of this system . should be us limited as consistent with existing laws it eau b, rendered. On reference to the laws under which the tithe.. Docks are established, it appears that die exclusive privileg , of the London Dock Company, granted by the 30 and 40 Gs et . iii, ins confined to the warehousing of the ardciea of tie; wine, tobacco, and foreign spirits; and that, with certain ca'- ceptions, all other articles are confined to it by orders or war • ' volts of the Treasury, issued in the exercise of the authority conveyed by the 43 Geo. 111. That to the East India Docks is confined, by the 43 and 4,; of Geo. 111., to the landing of gouts anti mercbandize, time pro duce of the East Indies or China, Which shall arrive in the. river Thames ; but by the /i 4 Geo. 111.. c. liti, all . goods flit. , ported auto countries within the limits of the Company's Cher. ter, by any person trading under the 53 George 111., may be lodged in warehouses belonging to the East India Company, or in any other warehouses approved by the CommisSioners of the Customs : nothing in the Acts referred tocompels the ware. housing within the East India Ducks; the restriction is cite fined to landing only. The warehousing depending on the ap probation of the Commissioners of the Customs, who appear to have exercised the discretion vested in them; by limiting their approval to the warehouses of the East India Compliny, which, nut being situated within the Dock, One no greater security titan others that might have been selected, 'or stem to afford a arty reason for such a preference. It is, therefore, the opinion of your Committee, that great advantage would arise to the Public, and the benefit of a free competition amonst Docks in the port of London b e i n a great degree esta blished, if the Treasury should consent to recall the various orders and warrants, ittsocil under the audio'. rity vested in them by uny Acts of Parliament, confining the landing or bonding of particular articles to particular doeks or places, and allow them to be landed and bonded wherever a sufficient security could be aflinded to the Revenue, and to the property of the merchant; and that orders should be given to the (2ornmissioners of Custons to inspect other warehouses,' for the purpose of ascertaining if, with adequate security to the Revenue, the privilege of warehousing East India gocids May be extended to them t and, if such be the reitult of the exami nation, that it should be so extended. • By this meow, thy object of setting free many ankles of ' trade, and establishing conipetition, may he in a great degree obtained at an early period, and provi sion effectually be niticla for its complete and undisturbed operation in the ;year nin. when all the Acts conyeying exclusive privileges will have expired. Your Committee have abstained from enterin g into ninny • detail* to which a more minute consider a tion of rho te i t ni,n co attached to their Report might have led, and which they shoal t have thought it a duty to enter into, had such a case been wade out in behalf of the West hidia Do ck Company in respect to security to the Revenue,. or protection to the .Merchant, at might have raised a considerable doubt in their minds as to the recommendation they should offer touching a renewal of the compulsory clause of the 39 George 111. The expiration of this opens the way to free .;oropetition' areal* the Docks ; and they feel Assured that, by free competition, the eccommoilidieri of the commerce, in every particular, will be best provided for. In delivering an opinion in favour:of this competition, there'''. twain none of the fears that have been 'suggested of combina tion among the Docks, oppressive to trade, and hostile: to:the public interests; if they did not entertain the confidence, already expressed in the situations and characters of those to whom the direction of the respective establishment* is committed, they cannot believe in the accomplishment of art y such combinaticn that would be effectual ; they feel that Parliament will-21w",vs have the ready m eans of defeating an attempt so '"' the public interest, and, in case of necessity, wilt hOt be - Cick. ward to employ them. They have also less reluctance in o ff ering the ople,c tallied in this Report, betaus e , a l t h oug h. tht A Y sten ' West India Docks, applicable now exclusive:, to 0 4' "de ceived into them, must, if it should be adoptial, unde;g o alteratkm, yet there is retuon to heikve the interests of I. Proprietors will not incur any hazard alitl hem the ebteracto regulations, situation, and other advantages possst snit b, tt Di cks, they are at all times sore of t ornmanding tha o w I , i tiun of the commerce of the country to which they are entitled. Consistently with the opinions erttc , u , intd yomx (741 , 01,. tee, of the important iltlriint4gcs tit , tivea hY the eiornnic rt.% t h e c o untry , ( t o m t he establistimeta of docks, and the etk. ragement they are tietoreus of tvint to their corAt ruc t , wherever the titans ft 4 it can be 1 "" ", thtY POMO cond. • r this Report without bearing testimony to tbe i n t h e ortg i oi d design of this, the first esiablishinenr completed,. 'and' the public spirit stud perseeet a h;ce !:. is was carried into exec-v.44in; and ia cluixtg this. Aty debt of jui4ce trlc Ivion the t , mnes ()tette tljli and the latti.Mn iFlulligati, Who, by devotirig their time talents to its accomplishment, have rendered Mil thaStinr, service to the trade of the Idetropolia. - 3ti Jura, 1823,