The Sun.
London, England, 1837-01-28 00:00:00

G. W. WOOD, Esq., then rose, and said, he had been
'requested to move the first resolution. The subject before
the meeting resolved itself, 'he observed, into a very simple
question, upon which there could be not much difference
of...opinion in that room. It was, in fact, to remove a tax
froM the raw material of the staple commodity of this dis-
trict. But it was not sufficient that they only should be
satisfied on the subject ; it was necessary that his Majesty's
Government should be satisfied ; and not merely that
estate. of the realm, but the legislators of the country. It,
would, therefore., be necessary for him to enter into detail ;
but be promised to compress the matter into as small a
compass as its importance would permit. It was, no doubt,
the opinion of all who were abstractedly affected by taxa-
tion, who were pressed upon by any particular tax, that
such tax was impolitic ; hut there were men who had
brought powerful talent and large research to the consi-
deration of the question, who were of opinion that some
taxes pr, ssed more heavily on the country than others.
He would refer to one whose capacity and. experience
constituted no mean authority—he alluded to Sir
Henry Parnell. That indivi:lual had • sonic years
ago pub:ished a book, which he (the speaker) believed was
entitled Financial R,Yorm, in which the author strongly
objects to taxes on industry—taxes on the manufac-
turers that employed industrY. Mr. Wood next dwelt
upon the advantages derivable from the unfettering of a
trade which afforded such a vast field for the employment
of capital and labour, and favoured the accumulation of ca-
pital ; and to this, he said, no argument was opposed. It
was impossible to deny that much good would accrue from
the repeal of such taxes ; but the answer to the question
was, that the sum this tax produced could not be
spared from the. revenue. He then read some extracts
from Sir H. Parnell's Work, in -.corroboration of his
view, in reference. to all taxes of a. similar tendency ; and
proceeded to' contend that, fortified by such an opinion, he
Was Justified in pronouncing this tax as impolitic and op-
pressive. The cotton-trade, which gave employ to so large
a population, was menaced—not from any country under
the dominion of Great Britain—others had equal access to
the raw material with ourselves—other countries had
availed themselves of it, and had already made rapid strides
in following our course ; and might they not overtake us?
But when relief was asked for, it was said, what relief •
could.be wanted by a set of men who had reached a state
of prosperity such as no other 'part of this extensive and
prosperous nation could equal ? But this, though plau-
sible,:would not hold good as an objection. The cotton ma-
nnfacturer was, it must be confessed, prosperous beyond
that of foreign competition ; but as they (the foreigners)
were extending as we were extending, bad we nothing to
fear? We were engaged in a race, but until we arrived
at the goal, who could say which would be the winner ?
He adverted to the state of the cotton-trade, during the
war, and prices of the raw material at the close of that
gal ant- an l protracted struggle," and said he had alluded
to Sir Henry Parnell, and spoken of him as a statesman and
a philosopher ; but there were philosophers who, shut up
in their studies, and poring over their books, thought dry_
were able to settle affairs which required long experienCe in
those who attempted to grapple with them. He then road
an extract from the Qua, Icily Review, advocating the
propriety of the impost in question. Here was a writer, he
said, in the solitude of the Cumberland mountains, who
asked them what would become of the cotton-manufacture
of this country? lie next referred to a pamphlet by Mr.
Graham, and pronounced it a most useful manual, containing
all the facts and conclusions calculated to throw light upon
the question then under consideration. This writer, on the
authority of commercial men whose names ho gives, informs
us that the cotton manufactures of the United States (con-
fined at present to the coarser fabrics) have found their way to
Malta, Smyrna, Constantinople, Bahia, Pernambuco, Ma-
ranham, Para, St. Domingo, Honduras, Havannali, Mexico,
Tampico, La Guayra, Carthagena, Buenos Ayres, Valpa-
raiso, Lima, Cape of Good Hope, Bombay, Calcutta, Ba-
tavia, Singapore, Canton, and Manilla—in short, to every
place which the merchants of this town trade with for the
sale of their manufactures. This competition, he repeated,
only applied to the coarser fabrics, but they must of ne-
cessity be first, and it would follow that finer anti more ex-
pensive fabrics would be sent to the same destinations.
Woollens were a few years ago in a rude state here, and
for the prosperity of that branch of manufacture we were
indebted to foreigners. We were indebted in a most re-
markable degree to that madman, Lots the XI V. • It
was said that the present duty on cotton wool of 5-I6ths
of a penny per lb.—(Mr. Wood called this, throughout his
lengthened calculations, 3.l6ths, but-subsequently, as the
writer of this notice understood, corrected- himself, and
called it 5-I6ths, which has been here followed)—was sub-
stituted for an ad valorem duty of six per cent. ; but the
calculation by which 5-I6ths would be equal to six per
cent. had been overthrown by the advance on the raw mate-
rial—it was more than six per cent. in consequence. But
the present prices could not, stand ; and when they come
down, the calculation of six per cent. would hold good. And
then, in reference to the alleged inconsequential amount of
this duty, he would ask, if the merchants of High-street
were enabled to sell their manufactures at a rate of from
two to three per cent. lower than the merchants in Cannon-
street, would not Cannon-street be deserted, and purchasers
flock to High-street for their goods?—(Cheers and
laughter.) Was not their situation with the foreigner re-
duced to the same thing? They exported their goods in
rivalry with the foreigner, and the question was, who shall
have it ? It was urged against the repeal of' this tax,,
that the whole thing was a trifle—onlyBoo,oool.or4oo,ooo/.
Well, then, bethought if the amount be so small, it would
be easy for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to spare
it altogether. Ho next entered into a long tabular
statement, thawing the progressive fall of duties on cotton,
flax, hemp, and silk, and applied its operation to the views
lie entertained in reference to the extinction of all such
taxes. He eulogised those Ministers whose liberal policy
had given so great an impetus to trade, and referred to
Sir Robert Peel as an authority in favour of a repeal of
the tax on cotton wool, That gentleman, said he, who
now exercised so largo an influence, made the following
ob4crvationg In a debate on the subject ;—" With respect
to the duty on the importation of raw cotton, I will first
-state, that in the year ending the sth of April, 1835, the
duty collected upon that article, undoubtedly one of 'the
main sources of the prosperity of' the. country, amounted to
374,000/. ; and in the year ending the sth April, 1836;the
amount levied was 400,0001. ; being, I believe, only five-
sixteenths of one penny in the pound. But it behoves the
"House to bear in mind that the manufactures of this
country are exposed—and so long as peace continues they
will be expbsed—to foreign competition. I therefore will
say, that to levy such a duty as 400,000/. upon a rase Ma-
terial which forms the staple of our chief manufactures,
while, on the one hand, no advantage can be gained by so
small a revenue, on the other, is to raise a certain amount
of revenue, which would be most dearly purchased, if by
retaining it we should lay the foundation for an increasing
and successful competition elsewhere. With my views as
to the necessity of maintaining public credit inviolate, and
as to the impoliey of making no provision whatsoever for
the interruption of that prosperity which the country is
now enjoying, and deprecating, as I do, the approach to
that state of things by which we may encumber our-
selves with a new debt, I cannot, certainly, press for a
remission of a tax to so large an amount as the total :re-
duction of the tax upon raw cotton ; but I should rejoice
to see such an amount of surplus as would leave raw cotton •
free from any duty whatever, so as not to warrant unneecs-
sarily any competician in that important branch of trade,"
To this the Chancellor of the Exchequer replied, " i have
listened to the speech just delivered with the greatest plea-
sure, the earnest eloquence of which I shall not attempt to
imitate." fie next proceeded to say, "I am ready entirely
to agree with what has fallen from him on the subject of
ri.w cotton ; but my answer must be, that 1 have not the
means of acceding to his propositions," which declaration
was followed by six clauses, explanatory of the " Why and
the because," which extended to considerable length.
The resolution was passed, as were several others to the