The Express.
London, England, 1848-07-11 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, JUL:

(Hug, 124:1 lIR the elm Wm
ed on end our Map bargain Irma
the West India planter*
_ _ Asent to it, viand they were new
tmd in honesty to grant comPerlaation for the 100 that was
being sustained. If that house meant to do justice they
must do one of two things—they must either pay those men
full compensation in money, which he had shown to be due,
or compensate them in another way, namely, by orotection
against the slave producer. (Hear, hear.) He did not see
how a loan could fully compensate; because, oven if
continual recourse were had to loans to encourage
emigration, they would go to Demerara, British Guiana,
Trinidad, and Jamaica, and not to Bubadoes, St. Kitt',
Antigua, sad the Mauritius, for which places loans would b
of little value. And yet these islands bad as much claim to
compensation as the others ; for, while 141., and 161,, and 201.,
had been paid to them, treble the amount had been paid to
British Guiana. Again, how would these loans for emi-
gration benefit the British East Indies ? Surely they ought
not to be overlo deed. And, if they were, why was a coin-
mittee appointed to inquire into them? Why was it nut
raid then that we deprived them of no slaves, and that they
had not the same claim upon us? But, if it were true that the
East Indies had no claim on the score of labour, had they
not a still higher claim, on the ground that British power
had invaded their territories, and made thesis pay •
tribute of 3,700,0001., exclusive of 500,0001., in the
way of private tribute? And, when the honour.
able member for , Manchester said that the cotton
manufacturers of this country had not asked for pro-
tection, he forgot that protection which for half • century
they had maintained against the cotton manufacturers of
India ; for whilst wo paid 80 per cent. on their cottons we
obliged them to take ours at 3i per cent. (blear, hear.)
Therefore did they look to us for compensotion for the loss
of the it cotton trade, The late chairman of the East India
Company told us that the cotton manufactures exported to
Great Britain used to amount to so much as between three
and four millions sterling, and that so late as 1820 they
amounted to 1,600,0001. In 1816 we made them compensa-
tion, by admitting their sugar to that amount, but the con-
sequence since of admitting slave-grown sugar into this '
country had been the ruin of all those engaged in the cultiva-
tion of sugar in the east. This was apparent by the accounts
c intained in the last overland mail, which 'how, d that
in 1846 and 7, when the sugar trade was flourishing, Cal.
mita took 1,830,000 pieces of shirting, while in 1847 and 8
it only tooa 1,070,000, showing a decrease of upwards of
800,000 pieces. In like manner three was a deen me in the
same period on jacconets of 169,000 pieces; on cambr:es, of
134,000 pieces; and on mule twist, of 5,600,0001b1., upon an
export of 10,361,000 lbs. The noble lord quoted another
document showing that our trade in woollen manufactures
to British possessions exceeded by the amount of 460,0031.
the whole export of Europe. It was alleged that the di.
tress of the manufacturing districts arose from the disturbed
state of Europe, and that a great falling off in British ex-
ports had been the consequence. So tar tram that he found
that in 1847 the number of yards of plain
calicoes exported was 51,562,000, and in 1848
81,231,000, showing an increase of 29,000,000 lands.
Of printed calicoes, in 1817 therelwere exported 40,000,000
odd thousands yards, and in 1818, 60,000,000 yards, ehowing
an incr of 4,500,000 yards. Of yarn there was also an in
crease o Tnom 00,000,000 lbs. to 30,000,000 lbs. Se that, upon
every one of these heads of manufacture, so far as the conti-
nent were concereed, there bad been a very large inemase.
Look, then, at the other side of the picture—at our tram-
marine possessions. There had been exported to our British
colonies in 1847, of plain calicoes, 183,49000 yards; in 1848,
12.5,400,000, bowing a falling off of 67,900,000 ; of printed
calicoes, in 1847, 80,460,000 yards; in 1848, 60,300,000,
showing a decrease of 15,000,000. Of yarns there had also
been p decrease. He thought be had now sufficiently shown
that we were suffering, not so much from the disturbid state
of Europe, as from the ruin of our colonies. (Hear, hear.)
It the continent did not tyke so many of our manuficturi s
as before, it was because we seat our capital to them, and
thereby enabled them to carry on manufactures of their
own ; end if the disturbances were a liar to the importation
of British manufactures, ni fortiori they were a bar to the
introduction of the raw material. The noble lord then
quoted returns showing that we did not export to Cube or
imit, in 1818,:anything like the amount exported in 1846.
Of Europa an exportation there was exported, in 1817, of
cotton manufacture, 7,726,000 yards ; and in 1848, 6,850,000.
The export of yarn in like manner fell from 2,000,000 the.
in 1817 to 1,800,000 lbs. in 1818. Now we imported
of colonial and foreign wool, in 1847, 745,000 lbs.,
and in 1518, 2,660,0001b5. So that while of woollea
manufactures there was • decrease in the exports of
27 per cent:, and in yarn f 15, there had been an increase
in the import or the raw material of 250 per cent. lie had
shown, therefore, that it was not altogether to the disturb-
ances on the continent they were to attribute the decrease in
the trade of this country, but to the decay of our British
possessions, which we hail ruined by our anti-colonial police.
He coneidered that the question of India hail nut been moil.
ciently diseus-ed in this debate. The effect el our legislation
had been that instead of India paying her tribute to us in
the produce of India, she had been obliged to pay it in the
silver of the country. Mr. Tucker, the pi cunt chair-
man of the East India Company, said, " They hid
all beard it stated how important it was to deve-
lop the resources of India' and he was sure th- court would
agree w.th him in thinking that if their petition (which
prayed that the recommendation of the committee in favour
of a differential du;y might he attended to) was not attended
to, a blow would be struck at the resources of India which
she would not easily recover." lle treated the noble
lord who had spoken of the value of the British
colonies would lm that well to his heart, and recollect
that unless a differential duty of 10s between British
and foreign sugar we re imposed, a blow would be struck
at India from which else would not easily recover.
Another proprietor, Mr. Brown, expressed himself in similar
terms, remarking that the country had already deprived
I ndi a of her manufactures and were now going to ruin her sugar
trade; and he warned this country to take care she did riot com-
pletely ruin the best colony she possessed. Mr. Strahan, an
other proprietor, said, with respect to sugar, India had been
most unjustly treated ; and at this meeting • resolution in
favour of a 10e. differentiol duty was passed, with only one
dissentient voice. Closely connected with India was the
Mauritius, where the sugar cane was cultivated by coolies, who
wero fed upon rice imported there from India. The rice ao
imported from India amounted in value to 200,0001. annually.
Now, in answer to the statements made on a former evening
by the hon. gentleman the Under Secretary for the Colonies
(Mr. Hawes), to the eft. et that the Mauritius hail not been
ruined by the operation of the act of 1810, he (Lord G.
Bentinck) would call attention to a despatch from Sir Wm.
Gomm, dated 10th March, 1847. This despatch spike of the
then flourishing state of the colony, and of the efficiency of
the labourers, and quoted a colonial paper which took is com-
mercial retrospect of its affairs to prove its advancing condi-
tion, and it was stated that :the amount in value of exports
of produce for that month was 1,600,000 dollars ; and gin the
4th of October of the same year Sir W. Gomm wrote that
the quantity of muter produced had reached the unprece-
dented amount of 66,000 tons, being 15,000 more than the
produce of the preceding year. So that in J sane last year,
but for the blow struck by the set of 1840, and the conse-
quent enormous importation into this country of slave-growu
sugar, the condition and state of prosperity of the Mauritius
promised to exceed what had ever before been known.
They all, however, knew fei'l well the state of absolute ruin
by which the Mauritius was now overwhelmed (hear, hear) ;
and he must ask how di:: the condition of the Mauritius
contrast with that of her sister colony, the island of Bourbon
There the crops were presenting a promising eppearance,
and persons were in a condition to make advances
on Mon with the certainty of • profitable return. What
then must be the (college of the French inhabitants of the
Mauritius, amounting to 23,000, when they contrast their
condition with that of their neighbours in the island of
Bourbon ? By the proclamation issued by the British go-
vernor, immediately after the capture of the Mauritius,
the people had been promised the establishment, by the
English, of a firmer friendship with the inhabitan!s, and
that they should have the advantages of the protection
atter:led to all British culijects; and yet in 1833 England had
deprived them of their slave labour, and in 1816 hail ex-
posed them to competition with slave.growing countries.
(lieu, hear.) On this subject what had been said hi Sir It
Farquhar, addressing this house on 21st March,lB34 Why,
that " when the case of the Mauritiue was brought forward,
it would be found to Ise the hardest and most cruel case ever
submitted to the House of Commons,callieg for immediate re-
lief." He added, that he hail himself been, in 1810, with Capt.
Willoughby, at the capture of Bourbon, when proclamations
anti
each
the
Hip:run:en:
were issued to the inhabitants of the Mauritius, promising not
only the Mae protection which France had afforded them but
the same permanent auvantages of other British colonies. And
yet though France held slave colonies they were protected
by a duty of more than 10s. per cwt. on sugar. It hereafter
any anti-English European power should irrerpose, what eo-
operation could be expected by this country from a people
who had experienced such treatment at our hands ? The
imprtanee sat the Malltitilla to this country was exemplified
in the despatelies of Lord Wellesley, in which he premed on
the then government the in cessity of their capture from the
circumstance that during the war the privateers of? the Mau-
ritius had captured British property to the amount of
4,000,0001. sterling ; and be (Lord 0. Bentinck) had been
assured that in 833, about the period when these
slaves were emencipati d, such was the discontent
of the French population,
toe governor, Sir William Colebrooke, that he never sat
down to dinner without n guard of forty men in the ante-
room. Now he asked whether it was altogether
looking at the advantages of the position of the Mauritius as
the key to our East 'adieu posi,essions, to exasperate the
French colonists, in number twenty-fold greater than the
British, by withholding from them that protection to their
commerce which was enjoyed by their sister colony of Bour-
bon, and thus tempting t '.erei to seek again the French mar-
kets, of which they could get the monopoly now that the
slaves of Bourbon and Ss. Lucia were in a cote of Menefee-
eine ? (see's., heee 1 14^ e"'" en", *5 'tin wort of
the question, which he was conpelleit to do in consequence
of the right hon the Chancellor of the Exchequer having
thought fit to bring, neck and shoulders, his third budget
for this session into the present discussion. It hail been
stated by the noble lord opposite (Lord J. Russell) and by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer that if the recommendation
of the select committee had been adopted it would have en-
tailed a loss of 965,000/. to the revenue ; and the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, in commenting on the resolutions (far
which he, Lord G. Bentirick, was responsible, and which
(dotage, rejected by the committee, had been supported by Sir
J. Pekington, Sir E. Buxton Lord G. Manners, Mr. Hope,
and Mr. Miles), had said that no man in his senses would
believe that there could be an increase to the extent of any-
thing like 30,000 tons in.the consumption of this country for
the year ending the sth July, 1849. He (Lord G. Bentinek)
would take leave to say that no man who had at all con-
sidered the subject and was in hi. senses would believe that
the consumption for the year commencing 6th July, 1848,
and ending sth July, 1819, could be so little as 289,000 tons ;
and unless a man believed that, on what pretence could the
noble lord or the Chancellor of the Exchequer presume to

rialto looked Ob
into with the
ootwent to it,.
,mtorlsation

my there would be a lose*, 90001. th the plea proposed in
the isomaitte. ? (Heat.) • •
LorstaV itl./SSELL.-4 did sot upon I said the first
lose would be 960,0004, and the mooed 700,0001.
lewd G. BENTINCIC resumed. 1•041 or pin it mu.t be
estimated in the consumption, and the
leisnobl lord was want-
ing in candour and frankness when, h took to him-
self credit for • consumption of 310,000 tone, he allowed that
a greeter consumption than 290,000 tons would be admitted
when the cue was to be argued by merebeos of the commit-
tee. The proposal of the committee was to reduce the duty
to webin a fraction of one halfpenny per lb , while that of
the government was to reduce it one shilling per cwt., which
was a reduction which could be represented by no denomi-
nation of coin that could enter into the weekly payments for
sugar by the pour. The government reduction could
not be m, seared in money, and when the Chaco llor of the
Eimbequer came to consider the details of his financial
measure the
r proportion of
ptln
foreign
lee showed colonialaud a
sugars
estimate
wtoiuldaen
ignorance such u never before had been evinced in that
house when he said that the available stock of British colo-
nial sugar for the year 1848-9 would be above 300.000 tons.
Jo this respect, toe, the hon. members for Liverpool and for
the University of Oefortl had shown but very little acquaint-
ance with the subject when they calculated that the lose
would be at the rate they had set it down. Tne Chancellor
of the Exchequer seemed to think he could make a clean
sweep of all the stocks of sugar in this country, and that if
there was a supply fur the year of 200,000 t ins, and that the
stock in band was 76,000 tons, he could draw on the whole
of that supply as a joint stock. Now there was not a man con-
nected with the sugar trade that would bear out the right
hon. baronet on tut point. For the last fire years the
lowest stock on hand of which there was any record had
been 45,000 tons, and in proportion as the consumption in-
creased, it was no emery that the stock should be kept to a
proper footing likewise. His (Lord 0. Bentincke) belief
was, that if the duty was reduced one halfpenny per lb., the
consumptio
the Eacn
(toter would
had.not c
alculated. B reeds 310,000ut where tons,
was as the Ch
the slloanceopr
of h,
ply to come from ? The so venth resolution proposed in the
committee had been submitted by the right hon. gentleman,
the late chancellor of the Exchequer (hi eGoul hunt ), and was
carried by a majority of 8 to 6, and it stated that many estates
in the British colonies had already bee n abandoned-that
many more were in the course of abandonment,
and that thin must lead to a diminution in
the total amount of production, and the result
would be not only an Lima c in prig s, but
also the encouragement of slave-grown sugar,. It estates
bad already been abandoned and others were being so,
where did the Chancellor of the Exchequer expect to get a
supply of 240,000 tons of colonial sugar? From the best
estimate he (Lord 0. Bentinck) could form after mature de-
liberation with those who were held to be high authorities
on the subject, he had come to the conclusion that in the
year commenting sth July, 1818, and ending sth July,
1849, there could not be expected from the Mauritius more
than 3.5,000 tons, from the West Indies more than 120,000,
and from the East toadies more than 46,000 tons. Was the
calculation borne out ? The accounts tram the Mauritius
up to the 11th IsTril last stated that the falling off in the
shipments of produce had been 15,000 tons. The importation
thence lest year hadteen 59,000 tons; but then a great per.
tion of the exports of the Mauritius for this year had already
arrived and formed part of the supply for the year 1848 9 -
again, the accounts from Calcutta, up to February last, glowed
teat the exports for that inonth were 31 per cent. less than
they had been in the month of February, last year. It was
true that u,a to the present time there had been some trifling
increase in the imports from the East Indies, but still he
round the entire stocks held in Europe on the let January
lout was 145,000 against 110,000 in the January preceding.
In 1846 the stocks were 115,000 tons; in 1845 they were
93,000; in 1844, 70,000 toes; and in 1843, 45,000 tons.
Therefore the stocks in January last had been larger than
had ever been known in the commercial history of Europe.
(Hear, hear) But row he must look at what the stocks in
England were. When he drew up the report
of the committee, his speculation bad been that
on the sth oof July, DOS, the stocks in Eng
land of British colonial sugar would be 76,510 tons as
against 73,078 ton., the stocks on the belt July, 1847, show-
ing en increase of 3,332 tens. On the beat information he
could obtain there had been a decrease in the deliveries of
the months of May and June cons, queoot on the expectation
that there would be a reduction in the duty to the extent of
Is. if not 4s. per cwt. on British colonial sugar ; and he
could show from the sugar cis ulars that, as early as the
22nd June, the prices had risen from 2a. to 30. per cwt.
in consequence of the recommendation that a 10,. differen-
tial duty should be adopted. Hence there had been iu May
and June one of the shortest deliveries of sugar that was re.
cently on record. Therefore he had a right to assume that
et least 11,000 tons out of the 76,000 tons, was an artificial
stock, created by the suspension of legislation and the con-
sequent suspension of deliveries. If that point was greeted,
it must further be admitted that the stock, though nominally
76,000 tons was virtually only 6.5,000 toes. But that stock
had been further Increased by the adventitious circumstance
of the continuance of strong western gal• s having brought,
sooner than was ,:petted, an increase of 23,000 tons of
colonial sugar in the coarse of the last month ; lout in pro-
portion es that supply had arrived early, so would it di-
mini-h the supply for the year commencing July 5, 1818,
and ending July 5, 1849. Ti,, Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer relied on a supply of 210.000 tons of colonial
sugar for the year ending July 5, 1849. The right
hon. gentleman ought to bear in mind that they were
not now discussing the imports for the half-year ending
July 5, 1848; those imports had not been operated upon by
the ruinous measure of 1846. Those sugars had been
grown, advances had been made upon them, and they must
come to this country, and be sold even at a loss; hut there
would be, as he had shown, no more crops grown, and the
falling off in the next twelve months would be heavier than
ever had been known. What had already been the falling
elf in the supply of British colonial sugar during the
six months ending the sth of July of the present year?
Against 142,218 tons imported in 1847 there had been
imported 113 536 tons in 1848, showing a falling
off of 28,712 tons in the first half year, being a
decrease of 15,000 tons in the imports from the West Indies,
and of 13,000 tons in those from the Mauritius. If, then,
the calculation was well founded, that the entire importation
of British possession sugar for le4B-9 would not exceed
200,000 tons, and with a nominal stock of 76,000 tons, but
virtually of 65,000 tons, making together a stock and supply
of 265.000 tons, what man in his senses, who knew the sugar
trade, would say there would be anything like '240,000 tons
disposable for consumption next year? It hai been said by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer that no man could calculate
on an increase of 30,000 tons. Was the right hon. baronet
right in his conjecture ? lie (Lord G. Bentinck)
found that in the three years 1845, 1846, end 1847
the average increase of consumption had been 28,433 tons.
And there had been a failure in price of Its. 9d. in 1845;
no failure in 1846; but a failure of 61. in 1847 ; making in
these three years an average failure in price of ss. lid.,
with an average increase of supply of upwards of 28,000
tons. But this was not the only ground on which
it was fair to make an estimate. In a quarter of the year
during which great distress had prevailed 74,000 tone had
been the consumption ; and if the average consumption heal
during 17 years been about 50,000 tons per quarter it did
not require much stretch of imagination or any wild specu-
lotion to see that if the quarter's consumptien had been
74,000 tons, being an increase of 19,300 tons, the consump-
tion for the year would be about 310,000 tons. Some ob-
servations had been made the other night by the right
hon. baronet the member for Dover (Sir George
Clerk), and by the hon. member for Liverpool (Mr.
Cardwell), on the subject of the failing consump-
tion during the last month and the month of May
lie did not think the consumption of May, upwards of
29,000 tans, was below the average; and the consumption
of molasses showed a very great increase, no lees than 2,6101
tons, equal in point of duty produced to 995 tons of sugar,
to be set against the falling off of 880 tons of su_tar. Hence
there was no prospect of a dt crease of revenue from this
source. The fact was both the colonial and the foreign sugar
had been kept back; and on the 7th and Bth inst. no less
than 20,000 tons of foreign sugar had paid duty, making •
total for the half-year including those two days, of 163,810
tons, and including moles.ses, an average total for the year
of about 337,000 tons. It might not be strictly fair to include
the whole of the sugar which paid duty on the 7th and Bth;
but it was equally wrong to exclude it all, knowing that
it had been kept back in the two preceding months. Hence
he felt warranted in the conclusion that at least 22.5,000
tons of celonial would be entered for consumption. which,
with the foreign, might produce an annual revenue of
4,629,000/.; or allowing for the proposed reduction of duty,
3,957,0001. Deducting also the loan, or grant, of half a'
million, 70,0001. for the reduction f the rum duty, and
40,0001. for the concession to the distiller' in the mode of
levying the duty-together. 610,0001., a reduction would be
effected which was not at all warranted by the recommenda-
tions of the committee. He had suggested in that committee
an ad valorem duty of 261 per cent. on colonial and 53 per
cent. oar foreign sugar ; which, taking the average prices and
consumption of sugar, would have produced a revenue of
4,195,0001. This proposition, being unaccompanied by any
of the drawbacks attached to the government proposition,
would have been more beneficial to the revenue. (Hear,
hear.) The day would came when such a measure mus, be
adopted. Tho unfairness of the present duty was well
known to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was in pea-
aession of colonial sugar which had been resigned Intl
his hands in preference to paying the duty. A fixed
duty discouraged the production of sugar, by adding
greatly to the cost; it also discouraged shipping; it was
moreover pre-eminently unjust to the peer consumers of this
country, whose intere-t had been studied and wrought for
by tee committee up stairs, while others, like the hon. mem-
ber for Manchester, rendered them only lip service. (" Hear,
hear," from the protectionists.) He would undertake to
show that an ad valorem duty would render sugar cheaper
to the poor consumer than would the proposition of that
hon. member. Tee purr veneer... 4 ee et-
varied in cost price from 181. to 20/. per ton. while that of
the finer sorts was as high as 47/. ; thus, by an ad valorem
scale, the rich man would be taxed mat heavily, uhe ought
to be.' With an ad valorem duty of 264 percent. on colonial
sugar, the sugar new consaimed by the working classes would
pay 17s. bd. per cwt. ; under the recommendatioe of the com-
mittee it would pay 10s. ; by that of the hon. member foe
Manchester, 145.; and by that of the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer, 13s. Bu. the lower clouts of sugar, which was
absolutely exc'uded here by the fixed duty, and which was
put down in the report at 23/. 10s. the ton, would only pay
a duty on the ad valorem scale of 6s. 3d. per cwt,; while,
on any of the other plane, it would be much higher, es at
present. (Hear, hear.) On foreign sugar, the ad valorem
duty of 53 per cent. would levy u duty of 14s 10,1. on the
lower qualities; while the other plans would respectively
levy 18e. 6d. and 20s, (Hear, hear.) On the rich man's
sugar the ad valorem duty would press more Leerily, while
that of the Manceester school would affect this kind of sugar
less, and that was the genuine character of the doctrines of
this school, so well expounded on one occasion by Mr. Ald.
Brooks, in these memorable words ;-" Lad bless pm, air,

we are all for ourselves: Lent' (fasaihcfitri Slave.g 0t
n ad valorem
sugar would pay 245. IN. per cwt. nn der
20s. (Hear.) So that after all the outcry raised against the
e eq
rr
committee for overlooking the interests of the poor consumer,
MEI:Cr,
it was evident that they alone had succeeded in producing a
dlEtty6;4. b; yen tdh ebypthal ant ooff thehs hon.
Chancellor mem forth e
scheme .which was really beneficial to the poor man—a
scheme which the government had put forth all their in-
fluence to throw out. (Hear.) With an had valorem duty,
the sugar used by the poor man would have been sold at 3d.
and 21d. per pound ; the finer sugars at bd. By Mr.
Bright's plan the sugar of the poorconsumer would be 31d.;
and by that of the government also 31d. per lb. Having I
brushed away this prejudice, which had been raised against
the committee, he would notice some observations M the
hon. member for Manchester, to the effect that the slave-
trade had not been stimulated by the act of 1846. (Ilea.)
A committee which satin 1842, of which Lord Sandon was
chairman, reported that slavery was diminishing, owing to
the exertions of our cruis,re, and the depression of the
planters in Cuba and Brazil. What was the case now ?
(Here the noble lord read extracts from the evid. rice
of Sir. Barnes, before the colonial committee, also some
advertisements from a Jamaica paper, announcing the
sale of various articles need in the sugar manufacture, which
were described as nearly new, but thrown out of use by the
act of 1846.) These advertisements were in Spanish, being
addressed to the planters of Cuba and Brazil. In 1845, Mr.
Consul Neukommen, in a despatch addressed to Lord Aber-
deen, had declared his conviction that Spain must soon follow
the example of this country and France in putting an end to
slavery unless the English market was open to slave-grown
sugar; and even if this were done at a duty of 50 per
cent. higher than the duty on the produce of our own colo-
nies it was said that would be sufficient. In January last
Mr. Kennedy wrote from the Havannsh that the net profit
of the planters in the preceding year had been 30 to 50 ter
cent. higher than in any past year owing to the advantage
which they enjoyed in slave labour and the long hours (16 or
18 in the day) which they compelled the slaves
to work. Mr. Consul Crawturd her' mentioned a
case where a slave owner had made an outlay of
3(0,000 dollars and had real,sed a return in the
first year of 150,000 dollars. (Hear, hear.) A despatch of
Lord Howdec' as furnished by the Colonial-office, estimated
the number of slaves imported into Brazil in 1846 at 60,000 ;
but Senor Jose oiar, who had himself been engaged in the
slave trade, had informed the committee that the number
yearly landed there was about 72,000, though it was probable
that 60,000 only might come to sale, owing to the great
mortality caused by the want of water and other sufferings
to which they were ezpesed. (Hear, hear ) Sergeant
Ducray confirmed the statement that the slaves were closely
packed and kept down. Lord 'Lowden also stated that the
slave vessels trading to Rio Janeiro made five voyages in the
year. The latest accounts, extending to the first two months
of the present year, showed that 5,000 slaves had been dis-
embarked at Bahia, and 12,000 at Rio Janeiro and two other
porta. This amount of 17,000 for two months would give
au average of 102,000 for the year. Could, then, the
honourable member for Manchester say that the slave
trade Lad not been stimulated 7 (Hear, hear.) The
noble lord at the head of the government had declared that
lie would adopt no course wnich would increase the slave
trade ; and similar language had been held by the right hon.
. gentleman the President of the Board of Trade and by the
noble lord the Secretary for the Colonies. Were not, thee,
these noble and right hon. individuals bound to come for-
, ward and abandon the act of 1846, which must be admitted
to have stimulated the slave trade? (Hear, hear.) The
hon. member for Manchester, in disclaiming protection for
the cotton trade, had forgotten all that protection which
they had enjoyed for nearly half a century in our colonies,
and the protection which they still retained in the drawback
on all soap employed in cotton manufactories, in which re-
spect they had an advantage even over the woollen menu-

ficturers7
Mr. BRlGHT—Perhaps the noble lord will allow me to '
tell him that cotton manufacturers do not us, any soap at all
in their manufactori-s. (Cheers and laughter.)
Lord G. BEN TINCK could not imagine, tun, why they
should have bargained !or an exemption which was no benefit
at all to them. The plan of the government was founded on
the principle of " beggar my neighbour ;" for now the
Scotch and Irish distillers were to have certain advan-
tages taken from them for the sake of the West
India colonists, and the government had also broken
faith with the British shipowner for the same purpose.
The right hon. gentleman seduced the support of the ship-
ping interest to the measure of 1846 by telling them that the
effect of that act would be that the sugar trade would be
carried on in British vessels under the navigation laws.
But as the right hon. gentleman could bribe the shipping in-
terest, an he could bilk them, for the fact was, that there
were 17,000 tons of sugar lately brought into this country in
foreign vessels, the price of which in bond was 2a. Ed. per
cwt. (Hear.) Ile would say one or two words on the sub-
ject of the finances. The right hon. gentleman the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer had suddenly discovered 1,500,000/.
in favour of the revenue, and the noble lord had made out,
not amisaing despatch, but a missing budget, because there
was not a word of this 1,500,0001. when the noble lord
wanted the house to agree to the income tax. There was a
sans of 350,000/. on account of the malt duties, but the right
hen. gentleman ought not to be ignorant of the existence of
such a sum, for though the duties were aot paid they were
brought to charge six months ago. The right hon. gentle-
man the other evening touched very gingerly the subject of
the corn duties. There were 800,000/. on this head which
had to be added to the 1,500,0001., making altogether
2,300,000/., which was concealed from the house when the
noble lord wanted to get a renewal of the into we tax. lie
did not believe that the government acted with that
finesse which was usual in a game of whist, where the
errors and oversights of one party made the game of the
other, but that they had totally overlook, d the corn duties.
If they were ready to fling away 40,0001. of the copper
duties, what excuse was there, when the existence ed the
British colonies was at stake, for not coming to their aid?
(Hear, hear.) He did not believe that the people of
England, for the fake of a farthing a lb. on sugar, would
refuse to do justice to the British colonies, or endure the
continuance of the slave trade. (Hear, hear.) His right
hon. friend, the member for Ripon (Sir J. Graham) endea.
voured to tempt them, the other night, by pointing out the
comfort of having cheap sugar to sweeten their vapid ?wire
ridge and their coarse tea and coffee. But he believed he
spoke the sentiments of the peasantry, and also of the
• operatives of the country when he said that they would not
, be tempted by his right hon. friend, or by the most subtle of
, all tempters if he came from below to try than. They
, would distinguish between the principle
fun regnum mete facieutibus offert
) and that which would urge them
ut rem facile ; rem
Si pane, recta ; el non, quocumque main rent.

He believed they would willingly spare from the hard earn-
ings which they mode by the sweat of their brow a farthing
or halfpenny a day to do justice to the West Indians and to
save the negro from the horrors of slavery. The people of
Eagland, nurqd in the bosom of the English church, and
well instructed in moral principles, would scorn as was said
by the late Lord Ilarrowby to weigh gold against the
blood of the negto." They were strong in religious and
moral principles, and knew that to act justly was the highest
good. Their principle, therefore, was
—hic mums ahencus esto,
Ntl eonselre sibi, sena pallesee re culpit.

Lord J. RUSSELL said that the noble lord was fully
entitled to the privilege of being heard in that house on
a question on which he had bestowed so much attention
and labour, and of which ho had made himself master, but
he certainly thought he hail carried that privilege to excess
(Rear, hear.) The noble lord delivered a speech of which
but a few words at the beginning, and a wend or two at the
end, were applicable to the motion before the house. (Hear,
and laughter.) But the rest of that speech, able and well
informed as it wee, if it had any bearing on the motion at
all, had a bearing against it ; because the noble lord argued
as it was a great advantage to have cheap sugar, that it
was desirable that the duties should be reduced. Atter this,
it was very strange that the noble lord should vote for a
motion which would leave the duties as they were, and
would admit of no reduction. (Hear, hear.) The
noble lord, at the end of his speech, had made
several Latin quotations, which certainly were not
unknown is that house—(laughter)—and if he might give
the noble lord ono in return, he might suppose, finding that
his prospects were not so favourable as they were that night,
that he wished to get from the West Indian body that tame
which a great Roman general obtained from his country-
men, as the " onus qui nobie cunctaniio restituit rem."
(Laughter.) The noble lord, in the course of his speech,
seemed to have upset all those principles with regard
to cheapness which had been heretofore laid down on
that subject. The noble lord argued that by re.
ducing the duty from 14.. to 10i., without reducing the
duty on foreign sugar, a reduction in price would be produced.
He (Lord J. Russell) should hove supposed it would have
been admitted by every one, after all the arguments they had
heard, that if the supply from their own colonies was nut out-
ficient for the consumption of the people, and if a foreign
supply was to be introduced, that the duty to be paid on
that foreign sugar must regulate the price. (Hear, hear.)
The whole argument on the other side, be it just or unjust,
was this—that the cost of production by free labour was
dearer than by slave labour, and, therefore, that it was
necessary to impose an additional duty. The hon. member
for Kidderminster, supposing his figures to be correct, said
that the cost of production in Cuba was 10s. per cwt.,
and that in Demerara and Jamaica it was 20s.
lle estimated tho cost of freight for each at 71., which
would make one 175., and the other per cwt.,
and therefore it was, he said, proposed to add a cl,,ty of 10s.
to colonial sugar and 20s. to foreign, which would make the
price of both 375. So that the additional price was granted
fur the benefit of the plan*.ers—for the benefit of the colonial
growers. If this were so, it was quite evident that the dif-
ference of duty was to go not to produce cheapness in rhts
r-1-• rt to the part r, f-r -
greater cost of production. The noble lord was therefore in
error in supposing that by reducing the colonial duty without
a reduction 4 the foreign duty you would therefore
' obtain cheapness in the markets here. (Hear, hear.)
He would also beg to remind the house and the committee
that the present question was not whether they were giving
265. per cwt. or 535. per cwt., or whetter they would pro-
hibit slavery. The question before the house was between
two propositions, both of which admitted that slavegrown
sugar was to be introduced at a certain differential duty, and
that at the end of six years there was to he an end of the
differential duty altogether. That was the question on
which he would address the few observations he had to make
to the committee. The question seemed to him to be really
this, whether for the benefit of the consumer, for the be-
nefit of the West Indians, and finally without great risk
to the revenue you cannot afford to reduce from 141. to i
10s., the duty to be paid on sugar—because, according to
the plan proposed by the hon. gentleman opposite, you are
never to rues the duty below Ids. With regard to the
consumers, that additional, 4e. on a consumption t 300,000
• tom made a &rename to them of 1,200,0001. U the con.

gumption reached 400,000 tons the difference won d be
1,600,0001. Now it seemed to him that the censea:lln
having so much less to pay for sugar, and, cons, (pendi,
much more to pay for other articles, war, in itself, giei,s;
m a great benefit. lie woularest the emotion on the central
obeervetionsmade by Mr. Huskisson in I.B3o,rheu speaking of
the large amount of tax'-s paid on the consumptl'm of aril.
des of general necessity, he said that their object should be
to lighten those burdens as much as possible, and thereby to
stimulate their increased consumption. He thought, there.
fore, that it was a great presumption in favour of we pro-
position against another, that it proposed to reduce the duty
on an article of great coneumption, and thereby to diminish
to a considerable extent the price of it to the coosumir. But
it was said that the West Indians would not get say
sudi least comp tie idols for the loss of the revenue,
end that if the government scale were adopted it
would not be an advantage to them. Now he
owned it appeared to him that the beat chance for
the West Indian interest was in some large increase of
consumption. (Hear, hear.) &dug the great increase in
the quantity of sugar introduced into the country last year,
it appeared to him that the bust chance of rec int.,' for the
West Indians was to reduce the price of lallelf so
low that • largo increase of consumption would be
likely to follow in this country, the greater part of
which would be produced by their own c dodo.
It was remarkable to see how great had been the iffect of
the reluctiorn made in general articles of consumption.
Whilst those reductions had not told in the first or second
year, they had done so in the course of years to a much
greater extent than was expected. It was on this ground
that, whilst he anticipated some increase in theconsuruption
of sugar this year, he expected a much greater increase here-
after. The average of five years' consumption, beginning
1839, was 4,081,000 cwt., whilst the last year's consumption
was no less than 6,044,121 cwt. The cdminutiou of price had
been very considerable during that period, and this fact, he
thought, conclusively proved that a further reductiouot price
would ensure a further increase of consumption. Bat it they
were to increase the price, they could scarcely expect an in-
creased consumption. lie would take some instances of
articles in which there had been a great thereat, of consume
lion following upon • decrease in prices. In the cue of
coffee, the various reductions of duty had, in the last t • enty
years, caused the consumption to incresee from 41 millions to
37,470,000 lbs. of coffee. is the we of cocoa, that aerie, with
• duty of 6d. was only consumed.to the extent of 500,00011 w ;
at a duty of 2d. 1,928,0001b'. was sold, and when the duty
was reduced to the consumption toe to 3,107,000;1s.
Tea was another instance. Its consumption had risen sines
1842 from 37 millions to 46 millior.s of: lbs. in come
quence solely of a small reduction, of dtey. Them
could be little: doubt that there would., be quite: as great
a proportionate increase in the use of an article so generally
acceptable and desired by the poor as the article of nigar.
His policy, therefore, was to give the people the greatest
possible benefit consistent with relief to the planter and to
what was due to the revenue. (Hear, hear.) Tbc right
hon. gentleman who spoke on Friday thought we should
have a very slight increase of consumption this year. Bat
he (Lord J. Russell) thought there was but little foundation
for his apprehension. The right hen. gentleman
had also raised a question as to the state of the
West Indies. It was raid those ci.lonies were
nearly ruined, and would be totally ruled, unless
the amendment were adopted. But how wire the West In-
dies to be saved by a Flight alteration of figures—an alteration
only to the extent of a shilling or two more protection ? With
regard to the col ivation of the West Indies he was clad to
find that even in the view of the hon. member For Kidder-
minster there was little reason fur despair. It was generellv
mitted that there had been a reduction in wages throughout
the islands to an extent of not leas than 25 per cent. The
accounts which had been received from various quarters
showed that the reduction of the price during the last year
had had very disastrous effects upon the planters in the due
colonic'--even in that of Cuba. which the noble lord represen.
ted as so flourishing. The very large production in o.e West
Indies last year was in fact the cause of the great redaction in
lrice, and the loss had been shared by both slave and free
abour cultivators. No doubt the effect of that would be to
diminish the production of the article, but that very
circumstance would be favourable to the planter
—because there being less competition for labour he could
cultivate at less expense, and the supply being more
proportioned to the demand, be would not be subjected
such heavy losses at home. The noble lord spoke of the
amount of supply from the West Indies this year. He held
in his band an estimate which gave 135,000 cwt. as the pro-
duce of the West Indies, 02,000 cwt. as the produce of the
Mauritius, and 60,000 cwt. as the produce of the Ert
Ir dies. The member for the University complained of the
plan, as it affected the finances of the country, and called on
the government to make up the loss incurred to the revenue
by imposing additional tax itiOn But the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had already shown that by reductions in expen-
diture they could manage the revenue in such a way as to
leave no more than abeat 40 1,0001. deficiency. Now that
being the case and looking at the present caw ot Europe,
he did nut think they ought at this time to propose addi-
tional taxation. If it were found, at the comment, runt of
next year, that in consequence of the threatening state of
Europe they were under the necessity of keeping up a large
armament, then he thought they would be hound to
consider how the income was to be made to
meet the expenditure. But in that ease ke thought
they ought to apply themselves to consider low that
might be done by the exercise of the most rigid ecotomy. It
was impossible in the present state of the continent to fore-
see what might be next year required. All, therefore,
that he could say was, if circumstances did oblige us to main-
tain all our establishments we ought to subject other
branches of the public service to the exercise of the most
rigid economy, in order to attain that end. With regard to
the questim immediately before them he begged the house
to remember that this was no question of prohibiting slave-
griwn sugar—that it was no question of humanity on one
aide or on the other. The simple difference as to the two
propositions before them was, which of them, without un-
due risk to the revenue, provided the better fir the comfort
of the great body of the people in this country, and at the
same time gave to the West Indians the better chance of re-
coveting themselves from the deep distress in which it was
universally admitted that they had become engulfed.
Mr. GOULBURN agreed with the noble lord, that the
immediate question before them was not the exclueicia of
slave-growni sugar, but that what they had to consider was
by which plan the interests of the colonies could be beet
promoted, and slavery and the slave trade most effectually
checked. Had he not known the state of thins in this
country, he should have thought the noble lord was a first
lord of the Treasury, rejoicing in a large excess of revenue
over expenditure. He talked of abandoning immense items
of revenue as if they could be dispensed with without the
slightest difficulty. For his own part he could not say that
either of the plans entirely met his approbation. They
'reined to?tim to suffer from one common fault, that of emit
ting slave-crown sugar upon any terms to consumption in
this country. Both the East and the West Indies
had been deceived by the promises of government.
Both had had reason to anticipate that they would
be exempted from competition with slave-growing countries.
Driven to choose between the meas-ires before the house, he
should adopt that of his hon. friend; first, because of the
effect ot the proposition of the noble lord on the finances of
the country ; and, secondly, on account of the greater ten-
dency of the measure of his hon. friend to restore that con-
fidence so essential to the preservation of the West India
colonies. At present the rate of duty upon our own MP"
was 100 per cent. on the cost price, a greater proportion than
was levied upon any other British article except malt; but
while malt enjoyed a monopoly in the home market, sugar
was exposed to the p Amen! competition of slave-grown
sugar from various countries of the world. He contended
that in the present critical state of Europe, when at
any moment we might be called upon to put forth
all our resources, in order to maintain our posi-
tion among nations, it was utterly preporerons to
make this very heavy sacrifice of revenue. He did not
mean to deny that by giving protection to the British grower
you were enhancing the price of the article to the British
consumer ; but it was an utter fallacy to say that this en-
hancement of price was at all equivalent to the amount of
protection given. The whole thing depended rather upon
the state of demand and supply than upon the amount of
protection, so long as this protection was confined within
reasonable limits. The benefits of protection were partici-
pated in tea very material extent by the consumer as well as
by the planter. As to the effect of the n ',hie lord's plan
with relation to the West India planters, it would Merrier
rathet than diminish the many grounds of complaint they
had against the imperial legislature. There would be more
and more agitation for redress, and not a year
would pass without the manifest necessity present
lug itself for again legislating upon the subject. Whereas
there were in the proposition of his hon. friend, however im-
perfect that proposition, the elements of much good to the
Westte India
dr
ieastocorilotnioinstst,othae
oemtudatenrial degree
properlyeeoi
that worked
prosperity
urittj
of which they had so long been deprived by oppressive le-
gislation. With regard to Cuba and Brazil it was quite
certain that they were actively engaged in procuring slaves
from Africa, for the more energetic and comprehensive
prosecution of that trade in sugar which the policy of the
noble lord had been throwing more and more open to them.
O
The committee then din ided. The numbers were—
For the original resolution
For the amendment 124 —B6

vt

The following resolutions were then agreed to : —Frora and
after July 5,184 e, to July 5, 1849, inclusive, candy, brown
or white, double refined sugar, or sop" equal to double re-
fined, per cwt. 194. Gd. From July 5,1848. to July 5,1849,
other refined sugar, or sugar rendered by any process equal
in quality thereto, per cwt. 17s. 4d.
On the resolution imposing a duty of 15s. 2d. per cwt. '
white clayed sugar, or sugar rendered by any process Null
in quality to white cloyed, not being refuel or equal to
r-finerl.
Mr. MOFFATT moved the omission of the words "white
dived, or sugar rendered by any process equal in quality to
white cloyed! not being refined, for every cwt.," and the
figures following these wor is. And in the following clause
to omit the words " whito clayed," and to insert the word
"refined." The hon. member expressed a hope that the
government and the supporters of the government would
give their votes for his amendment, u they bad opposed the
resolutions now put from the chair on a former =anon.
The CHANCELLOR of the E XCHEQU ER denied that
he had ever off red any substantive opposition to the pro-
posed clause ; all he had said was, that the scheme of duties
thereby proposed to be levied, would not be very profitable
to the revenue. He could not agree to the hon. member's
amendment.
- - •

The amendment was then negatived without a division.
The next reaulution wee, that the duty on muscovado or
any other sugar not being equal to white-claycd, should be
13s. per cwt. from July 5; 1818, to July 5, 1819, and for
12011"..,;e during the same time O. 104. per cwt. The follow-
Log resolution, were then read ;

F