The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-09 00:00:00

REPEAL OF HOP DUTY.

- •
Mr. FREWEN gave notice that, when the Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer brought forward his motion for
the reduction of the hop duty, he should move, as an
amendment, that the duty be totally repealed.

TEA .
Mr. MACGREGOR gave noticeU that he would move
as an amendment to the proposed resolution of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer on the tea duties, the fol-
lowing resolution :—" That, in lieu of the duties on
customs now payable on tea, the following duties shall,
from and to the respective days herein mentioned, be
charged on tea imported into the "United Kingdom,
when entered for home consumption—
"lFor every pound iweight of tea imported into the
United Kingdom when entered for home consumption—
To sth January, 1854, inclusive, Is. 9d.
From sth Jan. 1854, to sth Jan. 1855, inclusive ls. 6d.
From sth Jan. 1855, to sth Jan. 1856, inclusive, ls. 3d.
From sth Jan. 1856, to sth Jan. 1857, inclusive, ls."
QUARANTINE.

In reply to a question,
Mr. STAFFORD said the Admiralty had nothing to
do with tho quarantine of the steam-ship La Plata (as
We understood), but she was kept at a sufficient dis-
tance to be qnite out of danger.
GENERAL SCREW STEAM SHIPPING CO.
Mr. WIL COX moved for copies of all correspond-
ence which has taken placo between the Board of Ad-
miralty, the General Screw Steam Shipping Company,
and the General Post-office, relating to the application
of that company for the substitution of Southampton
for Plymouth as the port of departure for the steamers
which carry the mails to the Cape of Good Hope and
India : of all official papers which have been forwarded
to, or sent from, the Board of Admiralty, within the
last six months, in reference to the accommodation
which the port of Plymouth affords for ships of the size
and length employed by that compitny in the conveyance
of these mails, and of the replies theretof : and of all
reports connected with the subject which have been re-
ceived by the Board of Admiralty during the year 1852.

TEA.
Mr. GREGSON wished to ask the Under Secretary
r)r State for Foreign Affairs, whether any arrangements
uas been made, and,
if not, whether any negociation is
`La pending, for the admission of tea into the United
!.e4 of America via Great Britain on the same terms
1,"13r free) as when imported direct from China, tea
Zng witted into Great Britain via United States on
the same terms as from China direct.
c_l(o,unisme
nailllezhe
'l STANLEY said the hon. member had given the
information he had upon the subject.
the subject on had been made to the United States on
, but no answer had yet been received.
In reply to Fmr THE BUDGET.
The CHANeETI L ACT EVANS,
was not his intentio °lt of the EXCHEQUER said it
i
week.
to sal ke any important alteration n th
gene statement that he made last
e details a the
AUCICLAND ISLANDS.
Mr. MILLER wished t
the Secretary for the
Colonies, whether Mr. Ender% asill(
place :eaenctlreumstances under
the Auckland Islands ; if 803:,, as been recalled from
place upon
the right
which his recal ;has taken
on the table
hon. baronet has any objection to
gehthereto, to-
in the house the correspondence relatine
made
gether with a copy of any grant, lease, or
relation to the Auckland Islands, eithrterer
Enderby or any other persons. Also, whether itt(i)slitlii%
ineention of her Majesty's Government to appoint any
other Governor in the place of Mr. Enderby, or to take
any steps with a view to the colonization of the said
islands.
f Sir JOHN PAKINGTON said Mr. Enderby had
not been recalled, but hehad been deposed as it were by the
Company, and the result was now under investigation
y the Government.

BETHLEHEM HOSPITAL.
In reply to Mr. T. DuNcomßE,
ob
Mr.
ervat ions WALPOLE said be was going to move that the
of the trustees, in reply to the report on
Bethlehem
hlehem Hospital, be laid on the table,
and after the
whole subject.
rec's he should call the attention of the house to the

HOP DTJTY,
Sir J. V. SHELLEY wished to ask the right hon.
Exchequer question on
gentleman the Chancellor of the
the subject of the hop duties. The instalment of duty

due on the growth of hops in 1852 did not become pay-
able until November, 1853, and he wanted to know
whether it was intended to remit any portion of that
duty. He wished secondly to know whether Govern-
ment had it in contemplation to abolish the vicious
system of allowing six months' credit in the first moiety
of the duty and 12 months' credit on the. second moiety.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
general subject of the credit system was now under the
consideration of Government ; but, with regard to the
other question, he could only state that he was
in communication with the hop interest, and he should
not be able to commence it until to-morrow.
BRITISH SUGAR COLONIES.

Mr. J. WILSON called the attention of the house to
the effects of the Sugar Acts of 1846 and 1848 upon the
British Sugar Colonies, and upon the sugar trade of the
United Kingdom, and moved for the following papers
—copies of reports made by the Board of Inland Reve-
nue in 1848 and 1849, in reference to the refining of
sugar in bond ; and, return of the quantities of
sugar, molasses, and rum, and the amount of duties re-
ceived thereon, in the year ending the sth day of
July, 1852; also, of the average price per cwt., of
Muscovado sugar, exclusive of duty, from the London
Gazette, and the average prices per cwt. of Havannah
sugar (ordinary yellow), exclusive of duty, from the
London Mercantile Prices Current for that year (in con-
tinuation of Parliamentary Paper, No. 296, of Session,
1852). The hon. gentleman reminded the course which
the Government had taken on this subject. Last evening
the right hon. gentleman the Secretary for the Colonies,
gave notice of his intention to call the attention
of the house to the whole subject, but when the right
hon. gentleman came into office he stated that the sub-
ject would be postponed until the present session, and
now it was said Government intended to abandon the
subject altogether. Now this latter determination was
not approved of by that interest which it was supposed
the Government bad heretofore represented, and he was
therefore anxious to have the matter more definitively
set at rest. It was a remarkable fact that ever since
the war the consumption of sugar had remained almost
stationary, and he thought that fact sufficiently
proved that something had been wrong in the laws
which regulated the supply and demand of the
article. The consumption of sugar in the three years
preceding the passing of the existing law was consider-.
ably less than what it was in the three years subsequent
to the passing of the act. The consumption of British
sugar had increased nearly fifty per cent. during the last
three years ; and that fact, coupled with the stationary
nature of the previous consumption, was a satisfactory
proof that the act of 1846 had been successful.
But it was argued that the increased supply had
been obtained from the Mauritius and the East Indies ;
but if the house would look to the returns, it would find
that there had been as great an increase in the produc-
tion of the West Indian colonies. The average produc-
tion of the West Indian colonies during the five years
preceding the adoption of free trade was 216,000 tons a
year ; but after the adoption of free trade, taking the
average of five years, dating from 1847, the average
production had been 266,000 tons, showing an average
increase of 50,000 tons per annum. It was unnecessary
for him to go further to establish the efficiency
of the present law, but if they looked at the returns
of the British sugar colonies during the time of slavery
they would be found to be not equal to those of the last
five years. For instance, the average production of the
five years from 1831 to 1835 the average production
was only 221,000 tons per annum, while during the five
years succeeding the adoption of free trade, the produc-
tion had averaged 266,000 tons per annum. It was
true, also, that there had been a large increase in the
production of the slave growing States, but that increase
was not attributable to an increase in slave over free
labour, but to the increase of machinery, which had been
exported to those States from this country ; and it was
to be regretted that the delusive hopes which had
been held out to the British colonies had pre-
vented their making use of similar means to
increase their production. But in spite of all the diffi-
culties which the British producer had to contend against,
he had surpassed the foreigner considerably • for while
the produce of the slave-growing states had only in-
creased 25 per cent. during the last five years, that of
the British Sugar Colonies had increased 38 per cent. It
was, therefore, preposterous to argue that free trade had
proved ruinous to the latter ; it had, on the contrary,
greatly assisted the West Indies, while it had supplied
increased employment for our artizans at home.
Nor had the' revenue suffered from the change in the
system, for whereas the revenue yielded by rum an'"

sugar previous to 1846, when free trade was first applied
to the West Indies, was 5,981,0001. a-year, while in
the present year it was 5,446,0001., showing a very
slight falling off indeed, when it was considered that
the change had saved the people something like
12,000,0001. a year in the price
,of the commodities of
rum and sugar.

(Left speaking.)

THE FRENCH EMPIRE.

The Monitenr continues to publish despatches
from Prefects and sub-Prefects, describing the en-
thusiasm with which the proclamation of the Em-
pire was received in the departments.