The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-12-18 00:00:00

-.-'OItEIGN INTELLIGENCE

FRANCE.

PARIS, TunDAY EVENING.
th-ue Itinveror and the Prince of Prussia return
Is evening from Fontainebleau. The Empress
proceeded thither this morning to witness the hunt
In the forest. The Conferences do not seem to
excite so much interest as they did some days
Sin
ft, et)* This probably arises from the knowledge
at there will be a majority against Russia, that
-I-
ran" and England are perfectly d'accord, how-
I~ur the Contrary may be pretended ; and that
n: a will offer no serious resistance on the dis
ed points. I believe the Czar has very recently
fetz,ptTssed. his indifference (whether he felt it or
.13 another question) about the British fleet
"og in the Black Sea.
sr, A courier arrived from Berlin last night, and
tivl.2:ceeded at once to Fontainebleau ; another
iav .
eU
this morning with despatches for the Prus-
Mn minister.
Zhe Revue des Deux Mondes of the Ist instant
-4tailled an article by the well•known political
e
ree°flornist, M. Michel Chevalier. It has been
Published in a separate form. It is intended as
threePlY to the report of M. Mimerel, presented to
Council General of the department of the Nord
Itll4,,,iftts session of the present year, against the
"It reforms ; and, notwithstanding its concise-
85' is as Complete a refutation of the doctrines of
prohibitionists as has ever issued from the
Vv1:1 of that distinguished writer, He exposes the
groee
0 ,errors which M. Mimerel and his party have
;vllll,llll,,,`tted, and denounces the selfishness which
hi° keep the French tariff as it has been—the
(),,3„.t exclusive of any in Europe.
Chevalier is of opinion that the London and
par, Exhibitions offered the most favourable op-
-4nity for the abolishmeut of the prohibitive
6Ystero,
Ari• If (I
Says)! on the day following the distribution of
witzle;- Moniteur had published a decree abolishing
no 0,,J1 ionr or six months, every species of prohibition,
uttered d have been surprised, and no one would have
Alpha a Complaint. Against prohibition, which is the
facter;and Omega of the French Custom-house, in mans-
eve, Products the cry was unanimous. People were
instoniThed at the silence of the government,
.and
tig!ettee it
did not profit by the unanimity of public opinion.
g9vernment might have done so by a simple decree,
,o"fatatterwards demanded the sanction of the legislature,
had eXPerienCe had shown the wisdom of the measure and
rr.re-assured the timid.
the-u? the apathy of the government he attributes
hn‘4l3sequent efforts of the protectionist party.
anill'l!art was once more encouraged to resistance,
char they
Project of law presented the Chamber,
tion aieterisecl as it was by excess of cireumspec-
abs,;l,l34astauch as the auties it proposed in place of
as th:'e rohibitibn were exorbitant, was denounced
bitiv
-
the of national industry.
""e :*rgument that the abolition of the prohi-
Of 1.0 Ysteni will be followed by an inundation
thexhreign. Manufactured products in the French
faetoriet' and finally the shutting up of the mann-
Siezol; M. Chevalier replies :
°f nroh- Mimerel commenced his camain in th! causef
lorenc, Ibition, which he p roolaims to be the palladium o
fret
r,',l industry, it has disappeared in many States,—
beer."' all in England, in Holland, and in Piedmont ; it has
e 4 i 4 e
y a
eebolished in Austria, and Spain and Russia retain
tiges of it. Prussia has never known it—at let
'hat 1814. Are the manufactories of those countries
actiyouP on that account ? Certainly not : they are more
Protife;,7erY day. France, then, stands an exception in
hibite ; the 19-20ths of manufactured articles are pro.-
t1e,..„t0 our tariff, but there are here and there some art
• are not prohibited—such as silken tissues, spun
• and certain varieties of thread and wool. Now,
witC„' ,ia the production of these articles at an end
day;"" Is it not, on the contrary, considerable, and every
13;,1 nncreasing ; Even in France. since 1836, some probt-
leti'eahakhave been removed, and. have the manufactures
now more lost that protection disappeared ? Are they not
ago nuore flourishing than ever ? A little more than a year
a decree temporarily removed the prohibition which
• eted vessels built in foreign countries, and those vessels
'titlt considered as French on the payment of a moderate
therefrom Has ship building in France suffered an
prohibition
the indispensable condition of the existence of our dock-
,Etrd3.
It it were the case, that while other countries so
low Vs " without that protection, we should be at the very
i 1 step of the ladder.
j's a mistake to suppose that foreign competition would
to kl!arily lower the price of manufactured articles, so as
• 'lleil,..e ,oetatb:iarnger their production and reduce wages. A great
of manufactured articles are produced by us as
.exportY as they are abroad; these are the articles which we
/f ivr ~,,.11eY already represent a sum of 4100,000,000 f.
he ~
„,."-Lirnerel consults the Tableau du Commerce for 1855,
tio:lset see at page XIII., that the amount of our exporta-
Prom 'll manufactured articles has been 1,080,000 ,000.
N eoloniothat he will have to deduct what is sent to our
ee which are reserved markets; but he will see at
of the same Tableau that the colonies, including
Ivhiob.,, only stand in our foreign trade for 8 per cent.,
If wo ,Leaves 1,000,000,000 E to our trade under competition.
shEtLiiilen examine how these 1,000,000,000 E are made up,
eliaedit see that nearly all the great categories of our mer-
threadee figure in them. We find our woollen, cotton,
tanee ';.!lad hemp manufactures, oar silks, &c., out
' 41.1 its appliances, our metals, our dressed
vatet;,,goidanaiths' work, jewellery, modes, clocks and
s'Bl
inatzetn
re!
woollen re, cutlery, the manifold articles of Parisian
perfumery and soaps, arms, plating, cotton
om
threads, refined sugars, potter industrial
large a word, the whole of our
.or
larze
s'lmoda, and the greatest part stand on the list for
ural ones
n'itrieeitittns• Ido not now sped( of natural products,. f
properly so called, such as wines and
1,1/1°,4 weAiritti
oo liquors, corn, raw wools, madder, raw silks, come
;zr'hoithG:e'regga, butter, fruits, oil seeds and fruits, cattle,
o
Similar produce, which form another mass.b
of
uianueet7jiiraticm to the amount of 478,000,000. The form
f:aSi:tnuriian,gthat, in strictness, nearly the whole
_of the
industry of France, without speaking of
DrohiAßrierntal industry, could well do without, not only
*hen ltion, but even any protective duty whatever, for
, forei„,,People
export merchandise they, of course excite
• ooMpetition on its own ground, and this is a proof
that :e do not fear it. The Tableau du Commerce
.sh.o.ws
esll...ch °F our products as are protected by prohibition
400 CmPrised in our exportations for a sum of about
ft 130,000 e,
br:, refutes the assertion of M. Mimerel that in
theulAhave low prices it is necessary that wages
, A th`, uo reduced
aoteiri—r," efficacious means than the reduction of wages to
*bich Cheap articles is the improving of the
machinerytthat
the I, .producis them. M. Mimerel states in his report
less ihnce of stuffs in France at this moment is four
times
prices in' 1816. If, as he pretends, it was impossible for
ofto fil Without at the same time lowering the wages
he
workmen, wages ought at this day to be only t
beri,jd of what they were '4O years ago. Now, since that
haverise wages have not been reduced ; on the contrary, they
.hgla if wages regulated the price of manufactures,
al
• 'Preen 11- 'a of all countries of Europe the one wherel
It is, leltB, without exception, should be the dearest, whereasis
111384; ilY°nd all compathon, that in which manual labour
should '511137 remunerated, By the same reasoning, Naples
Oro oe the country which produces the cheapest, as wages
abour is
ere.eire
tue lowest. The very reverse is the fact. England,
more highly paid, produces cheaper than
deni"tber
f ~t-e greater part of her manufactures ; the king-
Istatioecle Two Sicilies, where labour obtains the lowest
i'ace produces dearest. In what does the differ-
4aPro co scion,
In this, that England employs the most
INTvried machinery and the best implements,
eatebi?h,_eralier shows that no proposition is better
rlert tlaued than that the improvement of machi
en4"nstead of depriving the labouring classes of
irin'il,°rY en t, gives, by an increased sale of the
buttCb4actured article, employment to a greater
wer'iteuredfol4 more
number of hands. There are, for instance, a
printeTs at present than there
It i,,,e9,l33'ista before the discovery of Guttenburg.
ie G'aienlated that previous to the use of machinery
eha ,veat Britain there were but 7,900 operatives
‘klere in the cotton manufacture ;20 years later
that, , were 250,000. At present, probably more
.
L 1,4.1,500,000 individuals gain a living for their
lin„d'ea in the various manufactories in the United
take tl°4l. Railways, which it was believed would
ry, 1? Place of horses and render them unneces-
twice give employment, directly or indirectly, to
l'reviteas many persons and animals as were required.
rhui,-,--us to their construction. The secret of this
Prje"Pileation of labour consists in the reduced
the 8 of the article manufactured, and consequently
Of vg,reater consumption. In reply to the assertion
the "",
_advocates of the prohibitive system, that
irltr Object of the British Government when it
de°44bed a liberal system of commerce was to
zinY rival manufactories, the author says :
u uoubt when England introduced this great change in