The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-25 00:00:00

minont part in exposing the usurpation and illegality of
this impost.—(Loud cheers.) I remember a smile pass-
ing over the features of the venerable judge, who has
lately retired from that bench, when I read, from the
governing charter of James II , the recital of the
grounds upon which that Monarch bestowed the grant—
" Whereas, there have been divers and many incursions
of the jiver Tyne upon the banks of the same, and that
in addition repairs are required for the Trinity House,
at Newcastle, therefore, out of our mere motion," &c.,
&e. And so Sunderland, without getting a single
benefit in return, ,has been called upon to pay, from
year to year, a sum amounting to some 1,2001. or 1,500/.
and this to enable certain gentlemen of Newcastle to
pamper their appetites and toast away the money you
have paid to the health of the Elder Brethren, and
the good old times of charter and monopoly.—(Laughter
and loud cheers.) Then there are the Dover and
Ramsgate passing tolls.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") Why
the amount levied upon the shipping and commerce of
the country,. in support of these harbours in the year
1849, amounted to 43,297/. 9s. 3d., for which the ship-
ping and trade of the country received no equivalent
whatever.—(Cries of " Shame.") Sunderland pays of
this 1,5791. Bs. 2d.—(Hear.) A still more flagrant act
of injustice is to be found in the exactions of the Russia
Coicpany, who have power, under letters patent of Wil-
liam and Mary, to tax Russian produce imported into
this country; this they.do to the extent of more than
3,000/., exclusive of sums levied on the British shipping
at Russian ports. Now, what equivaletit do the parties
taxed get for this impost? On glancing over an account
of their expenditure, I find the following items:—Pre-
sent of plate to the governor, worth 421, 10a.—(Laugh-
ter)—Agaip, grant for expenses of-organ, psalm-books,
&c., for the church at Cronstadt, 2051. 4s. 3i.—(Hear,
hear.) Surely this is a burthen which ought to be' in-
vestigated, taken off, and removed. There is another
evil ef great naegnieude, which consists in the tax col-
"leete4'by tbe Corporation of tendon; -ctilled'City-dues;
these Amounted last year to '192,470/. 125., and of
this large sum 18'4,4601. 13s. was levied on coalt from
rho counties of Durham and Northumberland alone.—
(Hear, hear.) Then there are the 13innue
their depend...A.o, rets---urriee the Lord Warden's
little sinecure of 3.000/. per annum—(Laughter)--end
all the sinecure captains at Deal, Walmer, 'and elsewhere.
Then there are the evils attendapt upon the present sys-
tem of pilotage. The system requires a thorough re-
vision. In my opinion, the taking of a pilot on board
ought to be rendered as nearly voluntary as possible.—
(Hear, hear.) Then there is the system of foreign con-
sulage, which must be substantially altered, and rendered
more suitable to the advancing and economic spirit of
the age. Government salvage is an unjustifiable charge.
If a ship of war throw a line or a hawser to a mer-
chant ship, it may be made the ground of an exor-
bitant claim for salvage, and, if resisted, the trailer
is thrown into the Court of Admiralty. But, besides
this, it has numerous other vexations: attending it.
Then there are the Admiralty Courts, which I would
vote for abolishing altogether.—(Cheers.) I would
let them, and the Chancery Courts, with all their bar-
barisms, and quirks and quiddities, with all their bills
and answers, petitions and affidavits, be shovelled by
my Lord Brougham into one huge mud-cart, and along
with the whole body of doctors and proctors, equity
draftsmen, and all such excrescences, be emptied into
the gulf of oblivion for every—(Roars of laughter, fol.
lowed by a burst of applause.) There are other grie-
vances, such as that relating to the use of bonded stores,
and other impediments to the free exercise of commer-
cial enterprise as applied to shipping. But I think I
have specified sufficient to make out a heavy and impor•
tent case for the shipowners of the empire.—
(Hear, hear.) . Remove these burdens, take a
comprehensive review of our Registry and Mercantile
Marine Acts, with a view to their amendment, so as
to suit the altered circumstances of the age, and
then Government will have done that which it
should have provided for before it drove you to struggle
with the competition of the world.—(Applause.) I do
not say that when even all this is attained, there will
not be causes for anxiety; but I do say, if you do suc-
ceed thus far, there will be ground for hope.—(Hear,
hear.) Why should you, with a fair field and no fa-
vour, fear the consequences of a rivalry in shipbuilding
with any, other countries of the world ?—(Cheers.)
With the United States?—or Russia?—Sweden, Nor-
way, Denmark, or Prussia?—France, Holland, Germany,
or Belgium? Take, for a moment, the materials used
in American shipbuilding. Their timber does not grow
at the water's edge; they have to send for it as well
as we, to Carolina, Florida, or Maryland, and what
advantage has ew York, Boston, or Baltimore.
save the difference' of freight between the
timber growing states and the northern ports,
and the same states and England ? Does not the
American import his iron from England, with a
freight of 10s. per ton, and a duty to be superadded of
30 per cent ad valorem? Do not the chain cables which
pay 35 per cent duty, and the sheet copper, go from
England ? Is not the hemp got from Russia, and are
not their sales purchased here, while canvas pays 10 per
cent. ad valorem, and is fully 10 per cent. dearer. Teen
the wages are higher, and the general cost of navigation
greater. Finally, the Americans have no ships that
would stand A 1 twelve years in this country. Look
then to the build of ships in Russia. In Finland a fir
ship may cost but 81. lOs. per ton against 201. per ton for
a first-class British ship, but the first will not stand
more than four years on the register, whereas the second
stands twelve years, and in some cases sixteen years,
without any expense whatever. Then there is the cost
of the Hamburgh build, in which there is no advantage
whatever over this country. The Hamburgh vessel,
from 200 to 500 tons, iron-fastened, and coppered, costs
11/. per ton, but she stands seven years A 1, and no
more, while the English ship, at 201. per ton, can make
16 years in all. So with regard to Sweden and Norwe-
gian ships, your advantages are self-evident.—(Hear,
hear.) Further, a Prussian vessel cannot be permanently
sailed and equipped cheaper than an English; the ice
which blockades their coast for three or four months in
the year places tnem under a great physical disadvan-
tage. Then there is the amount of the sinking fund
which must be laid by, and the amount of interest on
account of the ship during the months she cannot run.
These and other matters considered, you need have no
fear of Prussian competition. I need say nothing of the
ships of Bremen, of Holland, or the commercial marine
of France; and you need no argument to convince you
that they are rivals you need not dread.—(Hear, hear.)
As contrasted with these, look at the anvantages you
possess in England ! You build the best and cheapest
first class ships in the world; you lay in your stores more
cheaply than any ships in the world; you have the best
shipwrights and the hardiest sailors; you have irons and
British oak, and the other appliances for ship-building;
you have the raw material, it I may so express it, in
man as well as in manufacture, giving you a decided
pre-eminence; you have the cheapest and most commo-
dious docks in the world, you are the great storekeepers
of hemp and flax, and the world's manutacturer3 of
cordage and sails; you have your furnaces, your forges,
and your rolling mills fed with your own coals. Eng-
land, too, is the great timber yard of the world, so that
sou have the choioe of the best wood of every kind; you
have the best method of loading and unloading, the
machinery and the best tools iu the world.--(Loud
cheers.) Be not despondent, then; talk not of return
to an antiquated system; your coasting marine has
flourished least because it was most protected; your
foreign shipping has progressed in proportion as it has
been stimulated by competition. If you go back to
protection you go back to restriction, with restriction
you produce retaliation, and, by restriction on one
side, and retaliation on the other, you narrow the
field of enterprise, you enhance the cost of transport,
and you throw half the carrying ships of the country
out of employment.—(Loud cheers.) What, then, are
you to do? There is a duty upon the Government—
there is a duty upon you; upon the Government, to re-
lieve you of your burdens; upon you, to rouse yourselves
for the contest, and to be equal to your proper destiny
and your historic character.—(Loud applause.) Why
do we hear disparaging comparisons drawn between the
captains and crews of our own vessels and those of
America and other countries? Gentlemen, you must
begin to elevate the condition of your officers and your
mariners, not by Acts of Parliament, but by urging
upon them the importance of temperance, by stimultoing
them in the pursuit of knowledge, by seeking to infuse
into them higher aspirations, by paying them, if need be,
a higher rate of wages, which in the end will be the
surest economy, and so press forward to that glorious
consummation when not alone shall your ships be regis-
tered as A 1 at Lloyds,but thecrews who man them shall
be chissed A 1 in every port in the world!---(Tremen-
dons cheering.) Sir, unless this spirit pervade the
shipowners of this country, no Acts of Parliament, no
remission of burdens, no, nor your much-talked-of
protection, can save you.—(Renewed, cheering.) Be-
lieve me, too, there is a good day coming, boundless
markets, boundless fields, will yet be opened up tor the
employment of the commercial marine of this country,
for which you should make ready and prepare yourselves.
—(Cheers.) For,. lift up your eyes, and look towards
that hitherto down-trodden and degraded land of Africa.
See how marvellously within the last few years her trade
in as palm oil h increased! There is the Delta of the
Niger too, where cotton can be produced almost sponta-
neou-ly I What a world of enterprise does not the
newly-opened trade with China present to your commer-
cial ambition! Then, see India, where cotton can
onbegreoewtntenp
threedeeßaendks
by
yf thethe lulonoigthedleys.
States—where
writviearles
the
sugar can be produced equalling those of Cuba
and the Broils! See the tempting shores of
you truso d
California on the one side, and the geld regions of
Australia on the other, and tell me, have you not good
cause to hope and to take courage ?—(A. burst of pro-
tracted cheering.)• Such, gentlemen, is an outline of
lily views on the present state and future prospects of
the shipping interests of the country. You have been
htoaovelosnigepta.s_le(eup,e(a,rr: rather,hear,)ny oot
ywuhr.eicualiuwnsasehnwmat-hialaonm
advocate
ze
lows, faithful, devoted to your interests.—(Hear.) 1
cana
promise you one thing. If you send me to Parliament
I shall carry the same spirit there which gives me
,e toi d
when
dhderne ;ad you:spr t
exertions to assert your righoi and
may
devotem y right y
band
t
not let a day pass in l ••
:4:true condition ; the ears of the Legislature can-
promote yourre" in-
its cunning (Tremendous cheering.) You
laying before Parliament
ctis:,oohorruouegrursealt
not be deaf to you; tan interest like yours Gin "