The Express.
London, England, 1848-06-15 00:00:00

THE NAVIGATION LAWS-BELFAST.

On Saturday last the Chamber of Commerce of Belfast
assembled to take into consideration the auhject of the navi-
gation hews ; Mr. Robert .M*Dowell, preside-nt of the cham-
ber, to the chair. This movement in Beif cennot lut be
garded as of considerable importivee, when we consider
that a very great element in the commercial prosperity of
Belfast is the quantity of shipping belonging to the port.
Mr. It GUINNHAW, a merchant of great iutelligence and
respectability, proposed the first re. elution; and in sup-
porting it said : From his individual experience in business
he would beg to nay that there was a v. ry great deal of in-
convenience, and absurdity too, in the system of what was
called protec ion. When he was in bwiriess he used to hi!.
I port large quantities of dye stuffs, and on one occasion he
brought a cargo of gum Senegal from a French pmseedon on
the coast of Attica. to Dublin, and WAS afterwares obliged to
send it to New York to get it sold. as the wisdom of the
British laws would not permit him to dispose of it
in this country. That was one iustan. e of the evil
effects of restrictive policy, and he:could mention others.
Mr. Grimsbaw continued. He used to export a considerable
quantity of cotton checks to tho island of Bt. Domingo, and
received coffee in return. lie had invariably to send the
coffee to Hamburg, as it would not be allowed to come into
England for consumption. The mmsequene a was that the
great difficulty experiene. d in getting returns totally de-
stroyed that trade. He felt convinced that it such a prohi-
bition had not been on that article ai.d others of a similar
kind, the weevers of Ballysnacarett and Whitehouse would
still have found ample employment from the Grinaffiaws and
LerP, rs of this town, lie was therefore of opinion that the
eavig. thee laws should be chanted. Ile could not co,ceive
for a moment that competition from the foreigner would in-
jure the shipping interests of the country. They had more
pore in Britain than were to he found tram Hudson's Bay
to the River Plate. He concluded by prepusimr the follow-
ing resolution :
That the chamber is of opinion, that goo I greuncla exi.t on review.
ing the woe Ling of the nine rmpecting vittsh merw alloying,
for entertaining full confidence in the wt.-dim anti safety of their
beingrevimed ; sad t',t, in any alteration that may he made, the
existing intermtsof 10 shipcorucni snotild not be overlooked.
The resolution was seconded by Mr. Rohert Boyd, a mer-
chant and shipowner. lie"admittedtltat nchange in the navi-
gation laws would lessen the value of British shipping, but
then it would enable the Erithli shipowner to import weasels
from the cheapest quarter, and thus enable him to compete
with the foreigner."
Mr. FoLittOsiilf, a shieowner, prop:Bed an amendment.
Ile was no' against a incoltlinction of the as laws,
but would not consent to their repeal. The f flowing ex-
tract conveys his thee of argument Before any change
should be effected be thought the iota has might s ,y, of
millions of tradesmen, and mechanics, and others co :nected
with the ship-buildir.g trade, should be token into account.
They should not be so disietere.ted as to pass over such an
imporlart consideration. To throw ant of the hands of so
large a portion of the community the means of . ening a
livelihood w.a a grave matter of pomade, and pence.
Another quertion involve el was that reap stied the nursery
for raising British seamen. They were to remember that
America was now very jealous of England, and if they were
to reduce their mercantile marine, the evil cen-equences per-
haps might not be immediate, but they would be felt, say
twei.tv years hence." The amendment he proposed was:
That this chamber in of opinion that got grounds exist, ou review-
ing the working of the hews respecung Dilated. ratraraattla nhigrar,w,
for catertchning full confidence in the etiolom aril safe pat their
being revised; and in justice to the general comniervial interests of
the country, for applying to the shipping interest u.e free-trade grin
ciples adopted in other branches of business,
Mr. Ann, a shipowner and builder, green& d the amend-
ment. What would Belfast have he en had it rot been for
the enterprise of its merchant ship'miiders ? lie agreed
with Mr. Folingehy in saying, that if there he anything ob-
jectionable in the present state of the laws let it be removed,
hut let them not have such measures as contemplated
by the British minister in the new act, that wettld, in fact, p
to prevent merchants from coping with foreigners.
The amendment was lost on a division by a majority of 7 ;
the numbers were '23 lot the resoluti-.0 and 16 for the amend-
ment. The wind up of the meeting is thus reported :
" Mr. Fol ingsby 's amendment was then pot and negatived by
a majority of 23 to 16.—The original resolution was next
put, and carried by the same majority.—The gentlemen who
were in favour of tne amendment then retired, very much
jdissatisfied with the fate of their amendmens.—Mr. Grain-
ger, one of the gentlemen who withdrew, on going out stated
' that they would have a chamber of commerce if their
own shortly; and another said—' You'll have few guineas
next year!—Mr. Grinishaw facetion ly replied to Mr.
Grainger by saying that it was not a chamber of commerce
that gentleman wanted, but a chamber of protection.

PIIOVINCIAL.
LANCASHIRE.
THE LIVEREGOL MEETING ON THE SUGAR
QI:ESTION (reported in this paper yesterday, but not corn.
pleted when our despatch kit that Lowe) was thus con-
cluded : The amendment, proposed by Mr. Brown, M.P.,
" That although a rctwn from a vicious to a sound system
of legislation may neces,arily alllct at first the interests of
those who pre.fited by the continuance c I the system, the
meeting did not consider this result cr the existence of re-
strictions reasons why the industrious classes of the
country should be taxed for toe support of the
colonial interest, but that any restrictions pressing on
the trade er industry of the colonies should be forthwith re-
moved,"—was lost. The original motion was carried.—
IL Littledale, Esq., moved th it the meeting considered Sir
Thomas Birc'es plan well calculated to promote the objects
in view, to prevent the immediate and otherwise inevitable
abandonment of the majority of the West India estates. and
to secure time for bringing into operation the intended mea-
sorts of relief—which was seconded and carried.—Petitions
to the Howse of Commons, pro and con., were then moved
ar d seconded. The affirmance one was carried, and it was
resolved that the mayor should sign toe petition on behalf
of the meeting, and :hat it should be presented t y the mem-
bers for the borough.
YORKSIHRE.
MR. FEARGUS O'CONNOR AT SHEFFIELD.—At the
soirée held on Tuesday at the Old Theatre at Sheffield, Mr.
Fearaus O'Connor addressed a very Liree meeting, over
which Mr. R. Orley presided. An address was read by Mr.
Councillor Ironaide, expressive of apprccil of Mr. O'Con-
nor's conduct in his political Treece, ding, and in connexion
with the National Land Company. Mr. O'Connor re-
sponded at great length, expressing the pleasure he felt
at the address. In France, they bad been telling the
labourer that he was entitled to honour and corn-
pensitions, but bad not told him how I e was to get
it, but by his (Mr. O'Connor'.) plan the rich would
become richer and the poor rich. It was betesy and
blasphemy to say that the industrious people of this country
were to be transported as surplus, p Tulation to another
country. The money hoarded in the Bank of England was
useless and unprofitable. Place labour on the land ; it was
Nature's pap, and was the onljthing which could sustain and
maintain them. The proud oak should be levelled, the fat war-
horse knocked off, and an end put to pleasure horses and dogs,
and then if the land were too small, he would go abroad
with them (his auditors) in search of another country. The
charter had been spat upon ; their full-length portrait, the
little miniature he had carried under his coat 15 years ago
his crippled bantling, they had laughed at him; but now be:
hold the master which on the 10th of April frightened the
isle from its propriety, and caused the Queen to take refuge
in the Isle of Wight. (Cheers.) Mr. O'Connor, after pro-
ceeded in this strain for some time, attacked the " gagging
bill " of Lord John Russell, the very name of which was
a violation of the constitution, and described the govern-
ment as seeking protection under the petticoats of the
Queen. They had suborned a corrupt press, and were
trying to destroy the French republic. Nothing had been
obtained for the people by the Catholic Emancipation Bill.
the Parliamentary Reform Bill, or by free trade, but the
social plan he wished to put them in possession of would
seek a good political *Totem to defend it. Thomas Slingsby
Buncombe, who would be in his place in the House of Com-
mons that day week, was Lis leader, not Mr. Hume, nor Mr.
Cobden. They must suppose they were to mount the ladder
above him ; he knew his position, and would znalo-
know theirs, He would tell them that the vlb-ti •
greater power than that which they might 'schwa far inienr.l'S,•.
selves, and that was by co-operating with thenilert ;••rd
After enlargin: to some extent on this heat -
gave a great, variety of details connected wit tilinistioamme , •
Land C;mpany, which were received with h. apurgt.;4• :
Lion, The proceedings concluded at 10 o'clock/2 ' 7 r
•