The Sun. — London, England, 1822-04-03 00:00:00

THE LO N DUN JOURNALS. EXTRACTS FROM THY. DU I.Y MORNING PAPERS, April 3, 182.2. [NEW TIMES.] The Paris Journals of Friday and Saturday arrived yesterday, and last night we received by Express those of Sunday.—The discussion in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday was even snore intemperate than usual, and a duel has been the .consequence of some expresSions used by one of she Members. In the course of these debates . the Jacobins and Buonapartists, who were brought into the Legislature by the manoeuvres of M. Decazes, have acted, as it was most natural they should act ; they have made the tribune a -rallying point for every thing hostile to Religion, to the Throne, and to Peace. They have done all hut ca II upon the people to take up arms, and they have justified the few deluded wretches who ac;. Wally made ,the preposterous attempt at insur rection. It is to be lamented that the French knou so little of Representative. Government as riot to have provided an adequate punishment for this treasonable abuse of the freedom of debate. En England a Member who had uttered half as snuo treason as Benjamin. Constant would have been committed to the Tower ; and at some former periods of our history, would have paid the forfeit of his head. In France, under Buo naparte, this very M. Benjamin, who is now so • bold, - and waa,then so servile; would have been shot without the slightest ceremony, if he had dared to utter a thousandth part of his present re volutionary harangues. The labours of the mountain in the French Chamber, however, if we may venture to - use a pun, are nothing more than " the mountain in labour :" they have seemed pregnant with Civil War ; and they have brought forth nothing but the quixotic madness of Berton. [THE TIMES.] We now make public the Agricultural Report, which was first presented to the House of Com mons under a conventional silence between Mi nisters and Opposition, but was last night put in a printed form into the hands of the Members. We have not time nor space at present to enter into a discussion of its principles or details. We shall merely remark, that we have one consola tory hope (under such a report), which is, that the price of 'grain may still, and in spite of the Committee,. continue so low in England, as not to render foreign importation necessary to supply the -wants of the people. indeed, should the price of grain he so raised by the adoption of this report, as to distress our countrymen at home, the preventing them from seeking relief against domestic monopoly, by having recourse to. foreign markets, would be any other than the act of a humane and liberal Government.— Does the - country recollect the ardour with which it petitioned against countervailing duties upon foreign corn in the year 1815 ? Coun tervailing- duties are as oppressive now as they were, then : their mischievous effect, not upon the comforts only, but upon the very neces.: min of the poor man, will be as sensibly felt. _Why, then, should they be introduced ? The land-owners and farmers, it is said, are suffering. - We believe the statement, arid pity the latter. But we beg leave to ask, whether it was the farmers who were burning their own corn-stacks recently in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk ? No -we answer—it was another class of men ) who were driven to these criminal excesses by the pressure of distress. And it is precisely at the expence of this latter impoverished, wretched class of men, that it is now sought to relieve the farmer, by an increased tax on the great neces sary of life. [MORNING CHRONICLE.] No reflecting person-at all acquainted with the subject can refuse to agree with Mr. Hus kisson, that we have too long pursued a narrow and mistaken policy, not merely with regard to the trade with our Colonies, but with regard to almost every branch of commerce. " We have," is he observed, " forced our colonists on the one hand, and the inhabitants of the States on the other, to seek in Cuba and the Brazils what they could have obtained more advantageously from each other." We wish Mr. Robinson would.at tend a little to his own arguments. " Brazils smd,Cuba," he tells us," two of the greatest pro ducers of colonial produce, are now open to the whole world." What, then, does he pro pose Why, "to reserve a duty on importation into the West India Colonies of all those arti cles of foreign produce which came into direct competition with those of the North American Colonies, such as flour, grain of every descrip tion, lumber, &c."—That is, to enable the greatest producers of Colonial produce, now open to the whole world, to produce cheaper than our own Colonies, by the amount of this duty levied for the protection of Canada, and thus to enable them to undersell these Colonies. When will Governments learn to be just ;, 'avoid robbing one class of 'subjects for the sake of protecting others, as it is called ? Why shOnld . Ministers saddle our West Indians with a bounty, for the promotion of the cultivation of Cuba and Brazil, by lowering the rate of profit in our own Colo nies as compared with that in their rivals ? It would be better to propose at once in the West Indian Houses of Assembly, a regular tax to an amount equal to the produce of this protecting duty, to be distributed among the Canadians. [BRITISH PRESS.] The Report of the Agricultural Committee has been printed by order of the House of Corn mons.—This Report, to which the country has been looking with the most earnest anxiety, em braces a view of the present condition of the agricuitual body with reference to the market prices of their produce, suggests certain means that may be adopted by Parliament for ame liorating that condition, and concludes with **tailed exposition of the principles upon which the system of our commercial inter course with foreign States in the purchase of corn ought to be permanently established. The notion, which seems to have had its origin with Lord Liverpool ) and to have since pervaded many parts of Europe, that the existing distresses of the agricultural body are to be ascribed to the bounties of Providence, is noticed in this Report, but not with that implicit deference to which the Ministers might possibly conceive it to be entitled. The Committee state as an im portant fact, " That the quantity of British wheat and oats sold in Mark-lane between the Ist of November and Ist March last, has very consi derably exceeded the quantity sold in the cor responding months of the twenty preceding years."—This circumstance, which would offer to - the mind of Lord Liverpool and his dis ciples an evidence of an excess of produc tion, is in our opinion much better explained by the suggestion contained in the Report, as the result of an eagerness on the part of the oc cupiers of land " to dispose of their produce at any price" for the purpose of satisfying their present necessities. There is a moral presump tion that since the return of peace there have been no lands newly turned from pasture to the pro duction of corn ; no circumstances have occurred to encourage such a speculation, for even the prolection afforded by the Act of the 55th of the late King has not given such a stimulus to agriculture as it had received from the ex traordinary demands of the war. Why then should a larger_quantity of grain be sold during the period specified in the last year, than in the corresponding period of any of the last twenty years, were it not that the farmers are , driven from distress to flock with their produce to a market already overstocked, and thereby to aggravate their distress still farther [MORNING HERALD.] At a late hour. last night we received in due course the Paris Papers of Friday and Saturday. There had been vehement debates in the Cham ber of Depulles upon proposed reductions in the Army Estimates. The remonstrances of tWe left side were particularly directed against the in crease of the gem d'urxnerie, which at present far exceeds the force employed by Buonaparte, at a time when the French frontiers included Pied mont, and when 200,000 conscripts were to be dragged to their regiments. There was the usual measure of violence and personality ; but this has become too monotonous to be repeated. A duel was supposed to have taken place between Generals Semele and Lama, in consequence of this ex pression, which the former addressed to the latter, on the preceding day, in the debate.—" You are a vile being ; it is I .who tell you so." Both Members, however, appeared in their places, so that no unpleasant consequence had followed. An account reached Paris, stating that a person answering the description of General Berton had been arrested—but who had not been identified with certainty. A box full of muskets was dis covered in the Rue du Colonibier, which was traced to the same person who had the depot of arms previously discovered in the C.:our du Dra gon. The iftdividual has been arrested. [MORNING POST.] Mr. Alderman Wood last night presented to the House of Commons the Petition which was voted a few days back at the Common Hall of the City of London. The Alderman, in dis charging this duty, of. course recapitulated the various prayers of the worthy citizens, which are so numerous, and embrace so wide a range of speculation, that we cannot pre sume to develope the absolute wisdom dis played on this occasion. There are, how ever, three main objects - sought for, namely, a reduction of our " enormous expenditure," a reduction of our overwhelming taxation," and an indefinite " reform of the Commons House of Parliament." By these means only will the Agricultural Distress be relieved, and without every and all of them, we are, it seems, to be speedily, utterly, and irretrievably ruined. This is a very appalling picture of our situation, and becomes frightful as proceeding from the Common Hall of the City. With extraordinary discretion the worthy Alderman who presented the Petition abstained from dangerously commit ting himself on so hollow a subject as its contentY, hut before sitting down threw out a gauntlet for Sir W. Curtis, which was as heartily accepted. The Hon. Baronet, however, contented him self with stating, that he thought it his duty to inforni the House, that although the Petition af fected to be that of the Citizens of London, it did not, in his opinion, speak the real sentiments of that most respectable body. It was true about 300 Citizens had in Common Hall agreed to the Petition now presented,"but the Citizens of Lon don amounted to 13 or 14,000, and from his own knowledge of the opinions of the great majority, both in number and respectability of that Corpora tion, they did not concur in the prayers of the Peti tioners. Now this plain fact we wish to be duly impressed upon the public ; for, even with a view to the character of the City of London, both as to ,sound sense and good taste, we think it an in justice that the loyal and estimable part of so im portant a portion of the public should suffer under the conduct of a few, perhaps well disposed but withal intemperate Members of the Livery. Nor is it in the present instance only that the mention of the above fact may be of essential service. But too frequently, we fear, an impres sion has been made in remote parts of the Empire by the published Resolutions, Addresses, Peti tions, or other proceedings of two or three hun dred Gentlemen, who, probably, from the large stock of leisure which they have on hand, find time to monopolize the whole Corporation busi ness of the City of London. The smaller coin of 4d., U., ld., of his Ma jesty GEORGE IV., were issued from the Mint last week, preparatory to the distribution of the Royal Maundy, on Thursday next, in Whitehall Chapel. In consequence of the failure of several of the dies, which were eugraven for the 3d., no issue of this class will be distributed. We un derstand that an alteration has been determined upon by the Lord High and Sub-Almoner, cal culated to increase the solemnity of the ceremony in the afternoon service, and we have no doubt but that the Chapel will be numerously attended by persons anxious to witness the distribution of the Royal and munificent charity. WEST INDIA TRADE. COPY of a LETTER from - the CHAIRMAN of the SHIP. OWNERS' SOCIETY to THOMAS LACK, 'Esq. the Secretary of the Lordsof the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Plantations, on the SUBJECT of the MEDI TATED ADMISSION of AMERICAN SHIPS to TRADE with the BRITISH. COLONIES in the WEST INDIES. • Sut—Having reported to the Committee the communication, with which their Lordships were pleased to honour a deputation from this Society on Friday last, of the measures lb the contem plation of his Majesty's Governmeiit for the relief of the West India interest, the Committee have taken the same into consi deration, together with those observations on the same subject which were addressed to them by Mr. George Hibbert, Mr. C. R. Ellis, and Mr. Joseph Marryat, at a meeting on the 6th ult. ; and by the desire of the Committee I have now to re quest you will be pleased to represent to their Lordships, that they are fully sensible that the situation of the British West In dia planter is such as to require, and in their judgment to en title him to, all the relief which it is in the power of the 'Aegis= lature to afford, consistently with what is due to the rights and, interests of British ship owners, and other important national objects.. They are equally sensible, that the prosperity of the planters is most essential to that of the ship owners ; bat although such be their conviction, the Committee find it impossible to bring themselves to conceive; that the admitting the ships of the United States to trade with the British Colonies would be any thing short of a measure derogatory to the dignity of the British nation, most destructive of the maritime interests of the country, most ruinous to the North American Colonies; at the same time that they are of opinion that it would beproductive of a very small portion of that relief to the planters which they appear to expect from it. In the justly celebrated Report of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council, appointed for all matters relating to trade and foreign plantations, on the commerce and navigation between his Majesty's dominions and the territories belonging the United States, made to his late Majesty on the 28ti January, 1791, (Which is understood to have been framed by the late Earl of Liverpool;Ltheir Lordships declared their opinion, that " it would be right in an early stage of negociation, explicitly to de clare, that Great Britain could never submit, even to treat on what appeared to be the favourite object of the people of those States ; that is, the admission of the ships of the United States into the jsorts of his Majesty's colonies and islands." And, in the opinion of this Committee, subsequent events have served to /wove, beyond all doubt, the wisdom of that determination ; and from which it is their anxious hope that this country will never be persuaded to depart. The obligation which, from a - sense of duty, the Committee feel themselves under, of making this unqualified declaration upon the present occasion, would cause them considerable pain, were it not that, besides their belief that the opening of the West India ports to American shipping would not be attended with even the limited advantages which the Planters formerly derived from such intercourse, much less those which they now appear to expect from it, the Committee are persuaded that other modes of relief may be resorted to, which, without being at variance with bur national policy, or injurious to those Bri tiO interests which it is so important to protect, would be far more conducive to the prosperity of the Planters. The Com mittee, however, believing as they do that the gnawing prospe rity of the British North American colonies is of itself a consi derable cause of jealousy to the Americans, and that on the subject of the trade with the West India colonies, as well as all others, they would expect a perfect equality of charges, are far from entertaining a confident opinion that the United States would agree to enter into the trade, if their produce were to be subjected to the duties proposed for the protection of the rival productions of the North American colonies. The following are among the reasons which the Committee 'have, for thinking that the opening the ports of the West In dies to American shipping would not be attended with the ad vantages which the Gentlemen connected with those colonies appear to expect :- Ist. The United States are now become large manufactur ars of spirits, which was not the case formerly. • 2dly, Rum of their own manufacture pays, no duty, whilst imported rum is subject to a duty of 45 cents. per gallon. 3dly. It appears by the latest advices from New York, that the market being, abundantly supplied, the price of Antigua rum (and other rums were in proportion) was only 75 Cents. per gallon, duty paid, leaving for the importer only about 30 Cents. or 16Ad. sterling per gallon, which is about the price' that can be obtained for it in London. Under these circumstances, and as the continuance of the Foreign Slave Trade will enable the Americans to obtain any quantity of rum, upon terms at least as favourable as the present, the Committee conceive that any considerable demand in Ame rica for rum or molasses of the British Colonies is not to be expected. With regard to sugar and coffee, as t 1 United States are abundantly supplied with them from various places ; and the sugar of New Orleans, which is duty free, is equal to that of the West Indies, which pays 12s. 6d. per cwt. ; and the price of coffee is much higher in Europe than in the United States : a demand there for those articles, to any extent, appears to be highly improbable. The Committee abstain from entering into the question of the benefit which the planters derive from the existing inter course with the British North American Colonies ; or the de gree in which the trade of those settlements might be injured by the measure proposed,. they trust, however, they have said enough to shew that the Planters cannot reasonably expect that this trade, if opened to American competition, would be so beneficial to them as formerly. The following extract from the evidence laid before the Lords of the Most Horrourable Privy Council of the 31st of May, 1784, will shew the character of the trade during the period that American shipping had access to those Colonies ; when the situation of the United States was far more favourable to the object than at the present day, viz. : " It was suggested to the Committee, that the confining the intercourse with our West India Islands to British ships would be a means of securing to the Planters a greater export for their produce than if the ships of the United States were allowed to come as formerly to the ports of our islands; for though the West India Planters and Merchants seemed to imagine that before the war the Americans took from the British West India Islands their produce in payment for nearly the amount of what they imported, the accounts of Imports and Exports state the value of the produce of the Continent of North America, im ported into the islands, as valued at the port of importation at 720,0001 annually, including freight ; and the amount of the produce of our islands, imported into North America, valued in like manner, at the port of importation, at 420 7 0001., including freight; which makes a balance of 300,0001. in favour of the Americans : and it has been asserted, by merchants well versed in that commerce, who have appeared before the Committee, that the Americans never took, in payment of their cargoes, more than a small part of the produce of our islands ; one in particular has informed the Committee, that the Americans trading to Jamaica, before the war, used to take produce of that island, in payment for provisions and lumber, imported there, in nearly the following proportions :—The southern provinces, About one-half or rather more ; the balance in dollars. The middle provinces, about one-fourth ; balance dollars and sterling Bills of Exchange. The northern, or New England Govern ment, not above one-tenth ; balance in dollars. " And so unwilling were the Americans to take the prodOe of the British Islands, that when they sold their lumber and provisions in exchange for produce, and - not for cash, they gene rally demanded a higher price. With the cash thus procured, whatever it might be, they went down to the Foreign Islands, and purchased sugar, molasses, and coffee, much cheaper than our Islands could afford them." As to whether the - ships to be employed would be mostly American or mostly Rritish, the Committee have only to state, that formerly . " more than three parts in four of the ships em ployed in carrying on the commerce between the British West India Islands and North America, were American." In the year 1807, the vessels which arrived from the United States in Great Britain were as follow : , Ships. Tons. Men. British - 84 18,229 1,091 American - 602 159,731 7,031 And of the ships by which the trade between this Kingdom and the United States is now carried on, the proportion is as follows, viz. : Arrived in 1819— Ships. Tons. Men. British - 121 28,279 1,420 American - )333 104,507 4,536 Cleared out in 1819— British - 104 25,026 1,315. American 333 105,539 '4,691 Formerly, " the provisions and lumber imported from the United States into the West India Islands, were found to tend to diminish the immediate intercourse, as well between those Islands and the British Dominions in Europe, as between the said Islands and the remaining British Colonies in America ;" and the Committee have not the smallest doubt but that, undr the like circumstances, such would again be the effect.. As to the benefit to British shipping from the circuitous voyage alluded - to by Mr. Hibbert, it was in evidence before the Privy Council, that, " upon an experiment made for two or three successive years, of carrying on the trade by a circuitous voyage, that is, by sending ships from England to America to take in lumbeie and carry the same from thence to the islands, it was found not to answer; that the ships did not save them selves in point of expence, and that it would never answer to a merchant to employ ships in such circuitous voyages upon spe culation." The Committee regret that they are nos in possession of ac counts which Would shew the quantities of West India produce exported to the British North American Colonies of late years, in exchange for lumber, - provisions,. &c.; they presume,. hew ever, it may be taken for granted, that a ll supplies which the. West Indies receive from these Colonies are paid for in rum and other produce : and if . so, the supplies of lumber &c. af forded by our countrymen in North America must be infinitely the most beneficial to the planters, so far as relates to payments. It is urged, however, that the supplies from the United. States would be cheaper than from Canada, or the other North Ame rican Colonies ; but why this should be so, the Committee can not comprehend. The Committee are, 'indeed, but too sensible that the heavy charges upon vessels at the several British colonies , and the shameful practice of making such charges at every port at which a vessel may land any part of her cargo, must have tended, ma terially, to raise the price of the goods, especially of articles of which the prime cost is so small ; and it is, indeed a crying evil under any circumstances. If, however, such excessive differ ence- in the price is to be attributed to the cheaper rate at which lumber can be shipped in the United States, or conveyed in fo reign vessels, it then must be evident, that unless the protecting duties upon'American lumber were to be considerable in amount, the British North American Colonies must sink under the com petition ; and what then is to become of the numerous British ships and seamen, to which and to whom they now give employ ment ? and the Committee may add, what will be the situation of the Su_gar colonies themselves, in the event of another war with the United States ? - • The Committee have no exact account of the number of ships employed of late years in the trade between the British North American and the West India Colonies ; but, in the year 1814, it appears, by the official accounts, that the amount was 49,838 tons ; . anct they are persuaded that the annual tonnage entering the West Indies from those ports cannot amount to less than 100,000 tons. A letter which has been shewn to the Committee, dated Ber muda, the lath January, 1822, represents the British shipping annually trading with that colony alone as amounting to aO,OOO tons. As the writer places the subject now under consideration in the point of view in which such other information as the Com mittee have been able to collect has presented it to their minds, they deem it proper to insert the following extract : " Should youi apprehensions be confirmed, and our West India Islands be opened to the American flag, the business in Bermuda will be completely at an end ; and in consequence,-it will not be necessary to use St. Thomas as a port of transit, which, had the trade continued in its present state, would have been the case ; but however it may be, we shall prefer almost any permanent arrangement that can be made to the present state of uncertainty and suspense." " In a political point of view, we certainly think that the proposed measures will be highly injurious to the best interests of the country, and we do not , believe that the West India Planter will derive that benefit from the free intercourse which is expected. The opening of our West India ports is, to Ame rica, a most important object to gain ; it is toe, perhaps, a point of which our Alimsters do not sufficiently understand the im portance, possibly for want of local knowledge. The restrictive measures of the United States have operated to their own injury, and the people generally cry out loudly for their removal. The British tonnage which entered and cleared at Bermuda in the years 1819 and 1820, amounted to nearly 60,000 tons annually. Why this should be conceded. to America I cannot understand. The United States is no longer a market ofmuch importance for West India rum, which has become almost out of use, and is now substituted by their own home made spirit." From this letter then it appears, that the present paralysed condition of the trade of Bermuda is attributable to the state of uncertainty in which the merchants and ship owners are kept, las to the intentions of his Majesty's Government with respect to the measure now under consideration. The Committee apprehend that there can be but one opinion of the necessity that yelief should be afforded to the planter. In the early part of the year 1784, upon an inquiry by the Com mittee of Privy Council, which was instituted upon " the re presentation of the West India planters and merchants, purport ing to shew the distressed state of his Majesty's Sugar Colonies, by the operation of the Order in Council of the 2d July, 1783, and the necessity of allowing a free intercourse between the sugar Colonies and the United States in American bottoms, the price of rum was stated to have broke at Savanna la Mar, at 2s. 6d. per gallon; at Kingston it had sold at 2s. 9d.; and, by accounts from the Leeward Islands, dated in February, the price of new rum was expected to be 2s. 3d. and strong Gre nada rum 2s. 6d. per gallon." At the present time the prices in London, after the freight, insurance, and landing charges have been paid, are as follow: Leeward Island, proof spirit, Is. 6d. Ter gallon. Jamaica, above proof, ls. 10d. to 2s. 6d. per gallon, according to strength. Yet such have been the effects of the increased extent of the British Colonies by the acquisition of Demerara, Berbice, St. Lucia, and Trinidad, and the reduced prices of home made spirits, that the supply of rum far exceeds what is required for consumption in this country ; and such is the effect of the con tinuance of the Foreign Slave Trade, that the demand " for exportation" has been rapidly decreasing, and has nearly ceas ed ; whilst the stock on hand, in the first week of January last, in the West India Docks, was no less than 30,535 puncheons, and 626 hogsheads ! The quantity of sugar was 40,931 hogsheads, and 3,286 tierces. It remains here only to consider that means of relief are avail ' able to the planters ; and the following have occnrred to the Committee. Ist. To extend the provisions of the 52 Geo. 111. cap. 98 ; the 55 Geo. 111. cap. 29 ; and the 57 Geo. 111. cap. 4, which per mit the direct exportation of produce from the West India Colo nies to Malta and. Gibraltar, and other places to the southward of Cape Finisterre ; so far as to allow the free exportation, either direct or indirect, of West India produce, in British ships, to any part of Europe; and instead of the restrictions of licenses, bonds, returns, and all the other embarrassing ceremonies prescribed by those laws, by which the object of them , has been defeated ; and instead of exports from those places to the Colonies being limited to the " direct" return of the identical ships which had first proceeded to them from the West Indies, that.any British vessels should by allowed to proceed from any port in Europe, to the British Colonies, with cargoes of lumber, staves, and such other necessary articles as will not interfere with the.productions or manufactures of the United Kingdom. 2dly. 'To extend to the British North American Colonies, generally, the privileges granted to Bermuda by the 53 Geo. 111. c. 79 ; the 53 Geo. 111. cap. 50 ; 55 Geo. lil, cap. 29 ; and 57 Geo. 111. cap. 4. and 28 ; - and to constitute them bond ing ports for British - West India produce; and to allow them privileges similar to those proposed to be allowed to the West India Colonies. idly. To permit the importation of British. West India pro duce into Guernsey and Jersey, either direct from the British Colonies, or from the warehouses of this country. 4thly. To reduce the fees charged upqn ships laden with lum ber, &c. in the West India Colonies ; and so to regulate them as that the charge may be in due proportion to the parts of the cargo landed at each port. Othly. It is stated to the Committee that foreign spirits are admitted to entry at New South Wales on the same 'terms as British Plantation ram. The Committee submit that this de cided preference to foreign spirits (for, with reference to the distance from Which it is brought it is a preference) ought by no means to be allowed. The Committee conceive it can hardly be necessary (even if time would allow) for them to enter into particulars, for the purpose of shewing that the measures they have pointed out would be extensively beneficial to the British sugar planter : not only are the countries of the North of Europe the greatest consumers of sugar, but they are also the natural producers of those commodities which the sugar colonies most require. If a direct intercourse with them were permitted, the British planter would have the means of entering into competition with the fo reign planter, from which he is at present debarred. The like result would atten'd the affording the proposed fa+ cilities to the islands of Guernsey and Jersey ; the Fiscal regu lations of France are constructed without reserve, with the express intention of encouraging Vessels of the smallest size in their portg for the purpose of smuggling their commodities into this country; which' practice :Might be retaliated, if not coun teracted, by allowing the Merchants of Guerniey and Jersey a sufficient supply of West India productions; and„the Committee conceive that the means of preventing the abuse of the indul gence might be easily provided, by regulations to which' the Merchants of those Islands would most cheerfully conform. It is submitted to their Lordships that-three important objects would be obtained by the measures herein suggested. Some ad ditional employment may probably be afforded to British Ship ping : The extension 9f foreign plantations, and consequently of the Slave Trade (to the continuance of which the distress of the British Planter is chiefly to be ascribed) wouldbe discouraged : And the procuring of Lumber, &c. from the North of Europe for the direct supply of the Btitisn Colonies would bespeak-a degree of independence on, the United States' that may be ex pected to have a salutary effect in that quarter, and possibly lead the Americans to a proper estimate of the value of the inter course with the Colonies which this country already , permits, and the enjoyment of which they sullenly reject. It appears to the Committee to be peculiarly deserving of their Lordships' consideration, whether, if-American Ships were to he admitted into the Colonies, other. Foreign Countries ,would not expect to be allowed the same privilege? Were the Legislature to adopt the measures lierein pointed out, the Committee strongly incline to an opinion, that before they could be acted upon, the United States would have with drawn their existing interdiction to an intercourse with the Colonies by British ships. Although encouraged by the expectation that this Govern ment will, at the urgent solicitation' of the' West India interest, consent to relieve, its Colonial System, so far as to admit Ame rican ships to' trade with the Plantations, the American people are reported to have become extremely impatient at being re. strained from availing themselves of the permission to trade with them in British ships • what then may be eipected to be their feelings, on finding that other measures of such extensive et& cacy have been resorted to for the relief of the planters ? and . (with reference to the constituting the North American Colonies Bonding Ports), when some of those measures are calculated to excite in that Government well-grounded aprrehensions on the score of its revenue ? The Committee are by no means disposed to underrate the value of a commercial intercourse with the United States, by means of British ships ; they cannot however but think that, in a political point of view, it is not to be compared with the inter course with other foreign countries, and especially if carried on between the United States and the British Colonies in the Ttrest Indies as as the seamen engaged in that trade, in particular, rea dily and naturally acquire thosei-onnexions in the United States, which, for want of knowing the language, they cannot form in other foreign countries, and which must tend powerfully to weaken their attachment to their native land. So many motives combine to induce the Planters to consign their productions to the United Kingdom, that the exportation of them direct to Foreign Ports would never be overdone ; it would act merely as a safety•valve tethe home market. If the Planters be allowed to send their sugars direct to Fo reign Countries, there can be no doubt that the practice of claying would be adopted to a considerable extent, which would have the, same effect_ as if the crushed sugars were again ad mitted into Russia. The Committee can imagine no possible objection to such a further departure from the Colonial Bystem as herein pointed out ; when that system was established, this country could con surne all that the CalonieS produced; or find a readrinarket for the surplus ; they now produce much more than is required, and the relief which might have been derived from re-exportation to the Coptinent of Europe is cut off ' by the vast addition to th e productions of Foreign Colonies, which' the continuance of the Slave Trade has enabled them to make. • Such a departure would, in fact, only be permitting that to bo done in an advantageous Manner, which is already' allowed by the Warehousing System, under which the productions of the• Baltic, and of the Colonies, meet and ecchange themselves in the English warehouses, but are prohibited from going for ward to their destinationti, until they have passed through that expensive ordeal. But with this differenceohat a British ship would alone be the carrier for the whole voyage. A ship may bring sugar from Jam4ea, land it in the ware house, and the next day begin to take it in again for St. Peters burgh. On her return from Petersburgh with a cargo of lum ber, &c. she may land it in the warehouses, end th e next day begin to take it in again for Jamaica. It is true, that some duties upon• the ship are received by Government; and dues and charges of various descriptions by pilots, light-house esta blishments, dock companies, &c ; but how insignificant is the benefit which those interests thus derive, at the expence of the Planter and consumer, compared to the sacrifice which is re quired from the Bridal Colonies at large. The Committe are most ready to believe that, unless relief be afforded to the Planters, all of them must be greatly im poverished, and much of their land will be thrown. out of culti vation ; and the Committee feel confident that the Planters may be essentially relieved by the mode which they have point ed out.—The opening the Colonies to Ainerican shipping they are firmly . persuaded would not answer ,the intended purpose-; and the measure would be in direcl opposition to the ancient law of this country, which is founded upon a principle of public law, approved and adopted by all European nations, who, as mother aunties, have ever claimed a tight of restraining the trade and navigation of their C'olopies, in such manner as, in their judgment, would be, most conducive tntheir own interests. As to the more liberal policy_ of the French, Danes, &c. in allowing American Vessels to enter their Colonies, it must be sufficient to observe, that they are under a necessity of permit ting them, not having such articles in their own countries their Colonies require, and which they, therefore, suffer the Americans to supply. There are, besides, many inwortant political considerations which make the case widely different. The . Committee have requested me tosbring under the notice of their Lordships the following extract from the Report of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Conneil, dated 28th January 1791,. before referred to. Their Lordships say, "In Sformer Report of the 31st of May, 1784, they humbly submitted to his Majesty their reasons for not allowing to the ships of the United States the privilege Of trading to the ports of his Majesty's said Colonies and Islan ds,and his Majesty was pleased to approve oftke advice then given. Many of the Merchants and Planters of the Islands in the West Indies, who formerly resisted this advice, now acknowledge the wisdom of it. Parliament, by passing an Act for making permanent regulations, founded on that Report, have given their sanction to the system of poli c y th ere i n recom mended. The great advantages which have resulted from the measure appear in the accounts appended to the Report." And sue i this Society hope will be the decision of their Lord ships on the present occasion, and such the Committee confi dently anticipate will be dap result of adhering to a principle, which every consideration, of national policy and of just ice t o our fellow subjects in the North American Colonies, and to our ship-owners and seamen, dictates to the nation to hold sacred and inviolate. In conclusion I am to add, that believing as the Committee do, that the adoption of the measures they have pointed out would be productive of great relief to the British plante r ; an d that an intercourse with the•U s pited States by American shipping, whilst it would not be attended with any impertant advantage to him, would be pregnant with consequences of the most injurious description to British shipping, and the North American Colo nies, the Committee most respectfully, but at the same time most earnestly, intreat of their Lordships, that the effects of the measures which they have humbly recommended, and any others of a similar tendency which their Lordships' wisdom may sug gest, may be tried, before the admission of American ships into the British Colonies be resorted to : should these prove ineffec tual, anxious as the Ship-owners are that additional Rivals should not be raised up against them, they will most reluctantly object to the adoption of such further relaxation of the Colonial Sys tern as circumstances may hereafter render expedient and indis pensably necessary.---I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble Servant, - J. W. BUCKLE. Extract of a letter from Revel, dated the 18th of February, 2d of March :—" The winter hitherto has been such as was never before remembered by the oldest person. The frost h as never put a stop to or inconvenienced the navigation : the roads and harbburs have all the appearance of the month of June, nor have the surrounding hills or the country any snow left." The public are cautioned against purchasing shrubs or plants in garden-pots or boxes, of those who hawk them about, as there have been several vtry shameful instances of a num bp. of valuable plants and shrubs'having been cut off just above 'the roots, in the grounds of some Agentlernen in the vicinity of the metropolis. They are afterwards placed . in fresh mould, in garden-pots or boxes, and will only for a short time preserve their freshness. On Wednesday a medical student was fined by the Police Court, Edinburgh, in the sum of two guineas, for abst:, acting a newspaper from a coffee-room in the New Town. EXECUTlON.—Yesterday morning Edward Cochrane was executed ht the Old Bailey, pursuant to his sentence for burglary committed at. Hendon. ' COURSE OF EXCHANGE, April 2. Amster dam Ditto, at Sight , . l2 3 Rotterdam l2 7 Antwerp Hamburg') 37 2 24 Us. Altona Paris, 3 Day's sight 25 30 0 Us. Ditto ripurtleaux, ditto - 25 60 0 Us. ,Frankforton the Nlain MiOrid Cadiz Bilboa • , 37 Effective Barcelona Seville 2 Gibraltai Leghorn Gel.UiS, . . . 14 -Venice, Ital. Liv 27 60 Malta 45 -Naples " 40 Palermo Lisbon O p orto . Rio Janeiro - eig Dublin .... 94, Cork 94 per Cent. BULLION. Portugal Gold, in Coin • • 1.0 0 0 fret (h, Foreign Gold; in Bars • ' 317 101 New Doubloons New Dollars Silver in Bars, Standard 0 4 11 i BIRTHS. On Monday, April 1, Lady Frances Ley, of a daughter. At Battersea, on the Ist inst., the Lady of Cuthbert Rippon, Esq. of 'a son. " DIED. On the 29th ult., Lady Elton, wife of Six A. Elton, Bart., of Clevedon-ceurt, Somersetshire. On the Ist instant, Mr. Stephen Ofmond, at 1;16 itouse, Little Tower -street, aged 51. Printed and Published for the PROPAIETORS, at the Sux. Office, No. 112,'Strandi by J. B. CARSTAIRS. V'