The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-04-15 00:00:00

31 AUT DUTY.

Mr. PELHAM presented a petition from the 'manners of
Southampton, praying fur • reduction of the Malt Duty on the
stock in !laud.

Alt. OREN FF.lrli presented the petition of an indirillual named
Edward Chance, who believed that he could make auch improve.
merits in the workmanship of bank notes as would render them
very difficult to be imitated. The petitioner had met with no en-
couragement in his application* to the Bank, and he now wished
M lay his project before the novae, in the hope that it might be re.
(erred to a Committee. He (Mr. Grenfell) thought the matter
highly deserving of attention. The Bank of England was in duty
bound to tike'every_possible pains to prevent forgery and to make
their notes secure. They ought to hold out every inducement in
order to excite the attention of the ingenious to that object. He
would take that opportunity of adverting in what had been formerly
said by an Hon.. Member with respect to the c.induct of the Bank.
It had been stated that the Bank had expended lio,oooi. in various
attempts tit improve their notes, but that statement proved to Le in.
correct ; for at a meeting of Bank Proprietors, et which he was pre-
sent, it had heart positively (tastied by the tichremors.
Mr. PEARCE said he oho:rid be sorry if any petty inaccuracy
in statements made in that House should lead to the Inference that
the Bank hail tint taken every possible pains to increase the slit&
why of forging• their notes ; the Wink gave every encouragement
tn ingenious men, and the House might recollect that the proofs of
that Menges* detailed in a report wljeli had been laid on the table.
' He should be tad to bring measures to a better state, but he did
not think that the present liens or workmanship of the Bank of
England note admitted of much improvement i as a proof of the
skill alai experience employed by the Bank, he would only men-
tion, that a projector, who fancie' that he had made tin inimitable
note, afterwards mistook his own note for the imitation which wan
made by the Bank artist.
The petition was ovderol to lie on the table and be printed.
ABOLITION OF NEGRO SLAVERY.
31r. EVANS presented petitions from Ashboutne in Derby, and
East Retford. Nottingham, against negro slavery.
Mr. EVANS moved for returns of the slave population In the
Isles of France and of Bourbon, with the regulations under which
they were managed also returns of the number of slaves, with the
MUM of the proprietors, and stating the ages sod sexes of the

THE BRJTISH PRESS.

slaves Mao for a copy of the Orders in Connell which had been sent
to ihoseColootee.—Ordered. .

Mr. EVANS moved aloe for returns of the regiments which have
been stationed in the sstue Islands since the ene.e of their capture;
%milg the time of their remaining there, and the names and resi-
dences of the officers. —Ordered.
3lr. BARING presented a memorial from the Council of Ae.
eembly of Amigos reap cling the state of the slave population in
,the ei eat Indies. Although quite unconnected with that Island, he
thought the memorial deservetl the greatest attention; it was most
respectfully worded, as far as regarded that Hoene, ut he • would
acknowledge that it contained strong expressions against some per-
sons. Nor was that wonderful: the colonises thought themselves
injered in reputation and end.tnjeretl In property. If any Gentle-
men thought that some expressions of the memorial were tan streeng,
he hoped that they would, nevertheless, listen to it with indul-
gence, and consider that the persons who used that language bail
been bald up to pubic odium, anti menaced with an invasion of
their Preetserte. He believed it was known that, since he had sat
in that Housel he had uniformly been a zealous Ideal to the abo.
Beton of the slave trade, and also to the amelioration of slavery in
our colonies; but, although he was not willing to go the same
length in the alteration of the slave system which some persons ad-
vised. yet it was hardly necessary the him to say that he had no
share in the harsh expressions contained in that memorial; he be-
lieved that the persons who urged an immediate and entire eman-
cipation of the stare population, were actuated by the purest and
most conscientious motive*, although they pushed their principles
to an extent which would be practically prejudicial. When the
petitioners sate that the moral condition of their negro population
was much better than in any other West India colony, they could
not-but be sensible that that amelioration had, in a rent measure,
arisen fromolie attention which had hem paid to the subject by this
country. There was one point particularly insetted on by the peti-
tionere. which was so true, and at the some time so little attended
to, that lie would state it more fully to the Howie. They stated
that the slave trade bad not been originally promoted for the sake
of the colonies, but became it was thought to be advantageous
in itself. They pointed out what was well known, At the As.
Akron Treaty, in 1713, it wets thought a great object to this country
to carry on the slave trade—not ten the benefit of the colonies, but
as a carrying trade for the benefit of the ninther.country, to supply
'either nations. The petitionmothereforo wished to impress it on the
(louse that the erils of negro slavery did hot originate with the colo-
nists but with this court! y, which formerly defended thesystem in the
face of all Europe, although the colonists now were charged as the
only sinners. The petitioners also wished to bring it to the recollec-
tion of the House, that not wily the slave trade had its origin anti
encouragement in the mother country, but that opposition had been
made to it, and attempts made to put It down on the part of the
colonial legislatures. After the treaty of 1713, which gave rise to
carrying trade in which upwards of 140,000 slaves were annually im.
I ported into South America. several Acts were passed for the purpose
of encouraging the trade, but the colonies at the same time marked
the trade with their disapprobation. The legislature of Carolina
first passed an Act against it, which was rejected by Great Britain,
and the Governor of that colony was reprimanded. In 1765 the
colonies repeated the offence' and Fretted an Act to prevent the fur.
titer importation of sieves; but the Governor sent to the Assetn-
bites to inform then' that, conformably to his instructions, he could
not give his assent to that measure. In 1774 the colonies made
another attempt at resistance. In that year the Assembly of Ja-
main passed an Act against the slave trade, but the measure was
met by peti•ions from Liverpool and Bristol, and consequently de-
feated. The answer of Great Britain to the colonies, given by the '
mouth of Lord Dartmouth, was, " that we could not allow the
colonies to check or interfere in any degree with a traffic so bene-
ficial to the nation." If there was any thing inhuman, therefore,
the blame was with Great Britain, and not with the colonies. Theo
was a point very little considered, and he boned it would meet with
attention when the memorial was printed. The colonists came for.
ward with what he considered a very reasonable proposition. They
protested against the assertion that the colonies could not be culti.
vated by free labour, and they were the best judges; but
they said, that if the experiment was to be matte, they would
willingly give up their property for a reasonable eompensation.
That colony was peculiarly adapted to the cultivation of sugar by
free labour, and, from the moral condition of the slave population,
he believed the experiment could not be made under more auspi-
cious circumstances. The plan proposed by the colonists appeared
to him most reasonable ; it was the safest way to make the experi-
ment at first on a small scale, instead of trying it on all. It could
also be made more expeditiously. He believed that the moral con.
dition of the slaves in that colony was superior to that of any other
European colony in the West Indies, or even superior to what
was to be found in any state of free blacks. He did not mean to
assert that such an exeeriment was advisable; but if the state of
the public mind required such experiment, be thought it could not
be made under more favourable circumstances.
31r. MA NM:ell acid, he believed the amelioration of the black
lc pulation could not advance more rapidly in a free state than it
did in Antigun. The slaves of that island were superior in happi.
ness and moral iniprovement to thoete of any other Veat Indian
colony.
The memorial wan ordered to be printed.
3lr. HUME presented a petition from a parish in Aberdeen, for
the abolition of negro slavery.
CORN LAWS.
Colonel DAVIES presented u petition from the inhabitants of
Worcester, Way log for an ameoriment of the Corn Laws.
• Mr. Hl2lllll presented 'asininer retitioo futile the borough of
Preston and its vicinity. le was signed, lie said, by nine or ten
thousand persons, Kilo complained of being in a state approaching
to starvation. Ile had inqaired Into the accuracy of their state-
ments, and found diem to be quite correct. The average rate of
wages, they complaincJ, Vita only es. per week, which, at the
price of bread kept up by the earn laws, would hardly procure them
subsistence. As the question would be shortly brought under the
consideration of the House bt the lion. elernber for Bridgeborth
(3lr. Whitmore), he should Retain from saying more upon that
occasion than that his Majesty's Ministers would forfeit the pledge
which they had so solemnly given during the last Session of Par_
liament, that in the course of this Session those laws should un-
dergo a revision.
Mr. JESTER expressed a hope that the distressed condition of
the manufacturing interests would induce Ministers to take the
subject into their early consideration.
The petition was then ordered :o be laid on the table.
Mr. WHITMORE noetponed his motion regarding the Corn
Laws, from Tuesday, the 13d., wee (we believe) the 231 of
April.