The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-05-19 00:00:00

COMMRRCIAL RhSTRICTIONS.

PETITIONS PRESENT 0 TO TILE HOCSE OP
CQM MONS.

PILTITION or MERCIIANTS OF LONDON AGAINST
COMMERCIAL RISTRICTIO•4I

A Petition of the thereunder signed merchants of the
City of London, was pr-sented, and reel; setting forth,
That foreign comm. see is eminently conducive to the wealth
and prosperity of the comiiry, by enabling it to import the
commerlitiea fur the production of which the soil, u
capital,' and industry of other countries are best calculated,
sod to export in payment those articles Gtr which its own
autism km is better adapted; that freedom from restraint is cal-
culated lit give the utmost extension to foreign trade,toul the
best direction to the capital and industry of the country;
11141 the malign of buying to the cheapest market, and sell
rag in the tkoreet, which regulates every merchant in his
lodieiduil (beelines, is •trielly applicable, as the brat rule
ru• the trade of the whole nation; that a policy founded on
these principles would render the commerce of the world so
interchange of mutual advantages, and diffuse an in
of wealth and enjoyments among the inhabitants of each
state; that unforintiately, • policy, the ve.y reverse of this,
lams been, and in more or I, 04 whirled and acted upon by the
Government of this and of every °the. country; each try-
ing to exclude the 'productions of other tries, with
the 'memo• and well meant design of enetturaZine its own
Productions: thus inflicting on the bulk of its subject, who
arc consuming, the neceseity of submit, tog to privations in
the quaiiiity or quality of cumin •elit.e., and fling reel-
&rine ohm ought to be the smote. of mutual benefit aid
of harmony among ewes, • constantly recurring occasion of
jealousy and hostility; that the prevailing prejudices in
favour of the protective or restrictive system may be traced
to the erroneous supposition, that every importation of
foreign commodities occasions a diffiltillijoil or diet-oversee-
meat of our own productions to the same extent, wit it
may be clearly shown, that although the particular descrip-
turn of production which could nut stand against cure.
strained foreign competition would be discouraged ; yet,
as oo importation could be continued for any length of time
without • corresponding exportation, direct or indirect,
there would be an encouracement for the purpose of that
exportation of some other production so which our situ..
lion might be better mulled; thus affording at least an
equal, and probably • greater, aid certainly a more be.
ueficial employmeut to our own capital and labour; that
uf lbe nuoterues protective and prohibitory duties of our
commercial code, it may be proved, that while all operate
as • very heavy tax on the community at large, very few arc
of any ultimate benefit to the cl iu whose favour
they were originally instituted, end none to the extent of
the loss ocrarioned by them to other clam.; that among
the oth, r evils of the restrictive or protective system, not the
least that Ike artificial protection of one branch of Indus-
try, or source of protection against foreign competition, is
set up as a ground of claim by other branches fur similar
protection; so that if the reasoning upon which these re.
strictive or prohibitory regulations are founded, were ful.
lowed out cuesietently, it would not stop short of exclud-
ing tin from all foreign commerce whatsoever; and the same
train of argument, which with corresponding prohibitions
and protective duties should exclude us bum foreign trade,
might be brought forward to justify the re-emu-men. of re.
strictions alum the interchange of productions (unconnected
with pubic oo) among the kingdoms composing the
Vlllosl, or among the comities of the same kingdom; !bat
an invesitiatiesis of the effects of the restrictive system at this
lime is peculiarly called for, an it may, in the opinion
of the petitioners, lead to • strong presumption that lbe
distress which not so generally prevails, is considerably
separated by that system ; and that some relief may be ob.
taiiled by the earliest practicable removal of such of the
r.straints as may be shown to be most injurious to thus ca-
pital and -industry of the community, and to be attended
with no compematitig benefit to the public revenue; that •
declaration against the anti-commercial principles of our
restrictive system is of the more importance at the present
jtinclure, I'3'l.lll.lcl' a. in I instances of recent occur.
rence the me.chants and mausefacturers in foreign Slates
have 'trail. el their respective governments with applications
foe further protective or prohibitory duties and regulations,
urging the example and authority of Ibis country, against
which they are almost exclusively directed, as a sanction for
the policy of such ; and certainly, if the reasoning
upon which our restrictions have been defended is worth any
thing, it will apialy in behalf of the regulations of foreign
States against us; they insi.l spots our superiority in capi-
tal and machinery, as we do upon their comparative ex-
emption from taxation, and with equal fuuudaliuu; that
nothing would more tend to counteract the commercial
hostility of foreieu Stales titan the adoption of a
%more en-
lightened and more conciliatory policy on the part of Ibis
country; that attlitingli as • matter of mere diplomacy, it
may sometimes answer to hold out the removal of particular
prohibitions or high duties, as depending upon corres-
ponding v•neePsions by other States in our favour, it does
not follow that we should maintain our restriction. in cases
where the desired concessions on their part cannot be ob-
tained; our restrictions would not be the less prejudicial
to our own capital and industry, because other Govern-
ments persisted in preserving impolitic regulations; that,
upon the whole, tbe most liberal would prove to be
the most politic course on such occasions; that, inde-
pendent of the direct benefit to be derived by ibis coun-
t., we every occasion of such concession or relaxation, •
great iticithotal object would be gained by the recognition
of • sound principle or standard, to which all subsequent
arrangements might be referred, and by the salutary iuflu-
mice which a promulgation of each just views, by the Legtsla.
tore and by the nation at large, could not fail to leave on
the policy of other States; that in thus eh daring, as the Pe.
Wiseacre do, their conviction atilt impolity and injustice of
the ieetrictive system, and in desiring every practicable re.
taxation of it, they bare in view only such parts of it as are
ant conueeted, or are only subordinately so, with the public
revenue; as lung as the necessity for the present amount of
ue subsists, the Petitioners cannot expect so impor.
taut a branch of it as the Customs to be given up, nor
to be materially diminished, tauten some substitete less
objectionable be suggested; but it is against every re-
strictive regulation of trade uut essential to the revenue,
against all duties merely protective from foreign compe-
tition, and against the excess of such duties as arc partly
fur the purpose of and partly for that of pro!, etion,
that the prayer of the present Petition is respectfully sub-
mitted to the wisdom of Parliament ; the Petitioucts there.
Cure humbly pray, that the Mime will be pleased to take
the subject into consideration, and to adopt such measures
as may be calculated to give greater freedom to foreign
commerce, and thereby to increase the resources of the State.

FITITION OF caAmssa OF COMMERCE OF EDIN.

■uaoli AGAINST COSIIIERCIAL RESTRICTIONS.
A Petition of the Chamber of Commerce and Manufac-
tures of the City of Editiliurgh, was presented, and read ;
setting forth, that that Chamber, boric( been instituted by
Royal Charter for thee:press purpose of watching over the
commercial inters-2N of that part of the United Kingdom,
tee Petitioners humbly conceive it a duty highly iocumbent
on them, at a period of unprecedented pressure on every
branch of mercantile industry, must respectfully to call
the attention of the House to the depressed stale of fu.
reign commerce, and to offer their opinion of the causes
that in a great meusure contribute to this depression,
wbereby ybe general industry of this kingdom is checked,its
manufactures ronsequently deeply injured, and its revenue
is danger of being soon most seriously diminished; it
appears to the Petitioners, that the system so long pe
cd in of laying on heavy duties on imports from foreign coun-
tries tends directly to lessee the demand in those countries
for the produce of the industry of our own nation ; that the
doctrine maintained by many statesmen, that, in order
to acenniulate wealth by trade, a nation must export more
shale it imports, is most erroueons; that upon this erro-
neous doctrine is founded lbe present commercial policy of
this country : it appears to the Petitioners that the profits de-
rived from the exportation of the produce of our inauufac-
ilifell, agriculture, flawless, and mines, can in no other
shape be realised or made effective to the increase of the us.
tioseal wealth but in the form of imports ; that it appears to
the Pelitiosera that the sure way to Mere:sae the &terms com-
merce is to encourage the isduslry of other milieus with