Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-16 00:00:00

so persisted,—she has not thought.proper to give
any fairourable response to the free-trade princi-
ples adopted in the Repeal Act. Yet that retali-
atory clause has never been acted upon : we
have given up everything, and received nothing
in return from France, as regards the Ship-
ping Interest. Surely, then, such a case as this,
ought to have induced Her Majesty's Ministers
to take advantage of the present opportunity to
provide, by the terms of the treaty they have
entered into with France, for such a return for
our own liberal concessions, as would put British
shipping in French ports upon some footing of
justice and fair play. But no,—in the words of
our respected borough member, Mr. HoRsTALL,
whose letter to the Liverpool Chamber of Com-
merce will be found in another column, "it
appears, from the treaty, that the shipowners
have been entirely lost sight of. Never," continues
the hon. gentleman, " was there, in my opinion,
such an opportunity of negotiating with France
on the subject.; and yet it is considered that, so
far from any benefit being stipulated for, on be-
half of the shipowners, the 3rd article of the
treaty makes the present position of things even.
more binding than before." Undoubtedly it does
make the present position of things more binding
than before ; so that not only has this favourable
opportunity of negotiating with France on the-
subject been thrown away, but the British'shiP-
owner is left in a worse position than ever. The-
article of the treaty referred to, is to the followingeffect :—" It is understood that the rate
of duty
mentioned in the preceding articles are indepen-
dent of the differential duties in favour of French
shipping, with which duties they shall not inter--
fere." Nothing, we think, could be plainer than
this, as an indication of the utter indifference to-
wards the Shipping Interest which her MA-
JESTY'S Ministers entertain. Already, as they
admit, there are differential duties in favour of
French Shipping; and every British shipowner
who has anything to do with the French trade--
or, rather, who might have, were justice done to
the Shipping Interest of this country—knows how
very injuriously these 'differential duties operate
against British shipping. And yet, even in a
new treaty, and one in which we give up a great
deal to France, not improbably to our own disad-
vantage, these differential duties, which are found
to operate so ruinously against our own shipping,
must not be interfered with !

The Shipping Interest of Liverpool, as incleal
of the whole country, is certainly much indebted
to Mr. HORSFALL for his attention to this subject.-
It was with special reference to it, it appears'
that he.urged the postponement of the debate for
another week ; nor could there have been a better
reason for such postponement, were there ne'
other. But not so with Mr. EWART, whb acts, of
course, as the representative of that Liberal party
whose political principles are hostile to the Sliir
ping Interest. "My honourable colleague," says
Mr. HORSFALL, in the letter we have already re"
ferred.,to, "did not think it necessary, and was
sure the whole scheme would satisfy his consti-
tuents. He may be right," adds the honourable
member, " and I am not finding fault with his
opinion—but it is so at variance with the views
which I have understood the Chamber of Com-
merce and the Shipowners' Association to hold,
with respect to the treaty, that I shall be glad t°
hear from you on the subject. It is not too late
to make an effort, at least, to get the treaty
amended should the Chamber think proper, either
alone or in conjunction with the shipowners, to
do so."

It remains, therefore, for the Chamber of Com-
merce, and the Shipowners' Association, to
strengthen the hands of Mr. HORSFALL in this
respect ; and this is the more important, since it
appears from the correspondence that took place
between the British Government and their pleni-
potentiaries in Paris, on the French treaty, that
the " two governments will be free; to extend to
all other countries the concessions they engage to
make to one another; and this extension will, ou
the part of England, probably be effected by
simultaneous act." So that, not in French ports
only, may our Shipping continue to be prohibited,
even in the face of the most liberal concessions
on our part, but the ports of other foreign
countries may receive like concessions and be left
to exercise against our shipping a similar virtual
prohibition. Let us hope, then, that neither the
Chamber of Commerce nor the Shipowners' AssG"
elation will be remiss in their duties at so impor"
tant a conjuncture. The Shipowners' Association`
have already taken the initiative. At a special
meeting on Tuesday, they formally protested
against the glaring injustice of the treaty to the'
Shipping of this country. But they must do
more than this; and the Chamber of Commerce
must also act with determination and energy'
for we would fain hope, with Mr. HORSFALL, that
"it is not too late to make an effort at least t°
get the treaty amended." At any rate, such great
interests are involved in the issue, that it is the
bounden duty of a town like Liverpool to gic°
effect to such an effort by every means in its
power.