The Sun.
London, England, 1825-03-28 00:00:00

article

ALVARADO., JAY. B.—A few days ago the schooner
of Baltimore was brought_ in here as a prize, on the 5
the oore
having been bound with supplies to the Castle. On tbeli
day, the 3d, another American schooner anchored betsg'„„- 0110
city of Vera Cruz and the Castle, and is said to have beeed
at ker moorings by the fire from the city; 'the Castle oPew"eriC
batteries against the city, and the bring continued for t
four hours.

Parliament is prOceeding rapidly in real tli°
the restrictions on the Foreign Trade °'„,Y,I.
country. These restrictions may be classed
~upic`)
two heads—those relating to the vessels 10;tiiee
merchandise is exported and imported, 'flautortil
relating to the merchandise itself. The 'iefaa°
of these (which includes our whole sYS.I-0,4,
navigation laws) was reviewed in the year lik
and a number of new regulations founded ally ie
liberal commercial policy of the present d!otice
troduced ; the latter was brought under the 501
of the House. of Commons by Mr. fl-vsire:e
on Friday night laSt. The principal fcain°f l'')
Mr;IIUSKISSON'S measure is the, reduction - sofr,
high protecting dude's on. foreign ,Inannfaccoe'!i
articles,, and the taking away in some got,el?
and lowering in others, the duties on vorag the
vials imported. Thirty per Cent is lake' feoti
standard for protectin,,r, duties, but tl'e 'tit'
descends, and the duty made to accord Wittotect
state of the manufacture it is intended to Pof le,
being more•or Jess high as that is ‘• more fsll,
1
superior to, foreign' productions of theiolo'e
nature. The silk manufacture is asserted 50 f;c
flourished tinder the protecting duty Of fopt i
cent., and as that appears "to bil one of the oralo
in Which the British- do not' excels thetto Os
thence inferred (arid perhaps justly) t° 16'
dent in all cases of inferiority, and f 252 1

10 per cent. in all cases of clear and decided
superiority.
Considering the very relaxed system intro,
(laced by the new Navigation Acts, of 182.2, it
Ivas, perhaps, but just and reasonable to expect
that a greater latitude would likewise be ex-
tended to trade in articles of foreign Manufac-
ture ; and it is, we presume, in reference to the
principles then introduced, that wo may trace the
origin of NI r. Il usKtssoN's expose Of Friday night.
"We cannot, however (under existing circum-
stances) but entertain very serious doubts as to
the.soundnPss of the policy which dictated either
the present or the former measure, because,whilst
the nation is thus giving away the advantages the
restrictive system. had secured to it, we can see
110 substantial benefit to be derived from the,
change. There is no reciprocity of feeling in
foreigner ,governments which will secure to us
the same -favour in foreign ports as' under the
new system is accorded to foreigners in British
Ports, and it is only in reference to this recipro-
-vity that•the • principle of free commerce can be
admitted without being greatly qualified. The
proposed relaxations ought to have been.condi-
•tional,, and conferred only on such nations as
,granted equal fay Our to the United Kingdom, in
the same way as.his MAJESTY is now empowered
to admit foreign vessels to entry in British ports,
.on the same terms "as British vessels are admitted,
111 all cases where the like advantage is conceded
to British 'ships in the ports of the country to
Which such ft). reign vessels. belong,-for we may
conclude that •,foreign nations, whilst reaping
• the benefit of 'our relaxations, will still enforce
against us with all the rigour they are able
the restrictive regulations of their own commer-
: cial policy.. That the provisions of the old Na-
vigation Acts were;politic, the result' has prov-
ed beyond a. doubt, and the very fact that the
conuneree of the country is able to withstand
Cie experiment of liberal policy which has been
lately made Upon it, confirms that opinion. It
• 1nt137 perhaps 'therefore be urged, that the time
is then arrived when a different -policy ought to
and' commerce be allowed to shift for
• herself in fair .and open competition. But the
. answer is very plain ; to fair and open compe-
tition ri;a:.iisbjection can be. made; hut we' dO
strongly object to that competition where all the
fairness is on one side only, and 'where the con-
test appears to be only whether this country shall
retain her commercial superiority under the new
System, not, whether she shall extend it.'
Our objections, thefi, are not to liberal com-
mercial doctrines, but to the generality of the
tilasure under consideration, which measure,
if adopted ' all, should. be made subservient
to circumstanCes, and especially to the degree of
freedom which foreign Governments give to Bri-
tish ships and British goods in their ports.—
Under the 'restrictive system we have risen
t° the commercial prosperity we now enjoy,
gild Clat 'system ought not to be abandoned
• unless for some substantial advantage or
.41:ine other good cause shewu. We confess
are unable to see either the one or the
°t7 in the prOposed measure ; certainly it is
isihte no disadvantages may accrue, but that
ttn lufficient cause for abandoning a system
:.,-I)erieure. has. proved to be sound. The end
i.:°Posed," we presume, is, the extension of our
"reign commerce ; but how can that be obtained
i-thiaut that reciprocity for which we aow
contend • -
In •
the•year ending sthjanuary, 1825, it ap-
Pears that the amount of tonnage cleared out-
wards honithe ports of Great Britain and Ire-
land was as follows:
British'
I Great Brit •
l Ireland Britain
- 2;49'2,402
- 78317 2,562,719
Voreign. Great Britain - 690,374 .
Ireland • 4355 746,720

Zte.s.s in favour of the United Kingdom - 1,815,90 tons.
It would be, curious to compare this statement
ith a similar statement• for the year ending sth
•• vanuary, 18i2-1, and that again with a similar
statement for the year ending sth January, 182.2,
.the year the new Navigation Acts were passed.
'lle result would show pretty clearly the effects
of our relaxcd system of commerce.

It will be seen by the following article from
- Vienna, taken from the Brussels Papers of Satur-
tlay, that Constantinople is still agitated by the
turbulence of the Janissaries, owing to their hay-
lug discovered the design of the Porte to organize
them on a new plan, which would have subjected
theta to A:stricter discipline :
FRANKFORT, MARCII 21.
The Austrian Minister, Baron Bellinghausen, President of
the Diet, has had since his return to this city several confe-
rences with the Principal Members of that Assembly. It ap-
Pears that in the next confidential sitting of the Diet communi-
.cati°llB of some importance will be made in the name of the
Emperor
of Austria and of the Cabinet of Berlin, by the Mi-
''ter Plenipotentiary, Baron Nayler. It is also said, that the
-Viet will have to discuss a new Report, made by the Central
Committee at Mayence, relative to the persons accused of re-
r9lutionary intrigues, who have been delivered up at different
•
'Lines at the desire of the Prussian Government.
VIENNA, MARCH 14.
The General attention is now fixed on Constantinople. The
Ottoman Government had resolved, by the advice of the En-
glish Ambassador, Lord Strangford, to repress the insolence
of the Janissaries, by placing them under a new organisation,
• tv Illeh would have subjected them to a stricter discipline. It
waR
.4so proposed. to send from the capital a certain number of
_:se troops to incorporate with other corps. This plan, which
s to have been secret till after its entire execution, has been
',l7lllged. The Janissaries are enraged at it, and they are at
present in such a temper that a serious mutiny might be ap-
le'rthended, if the Ministers .df the Porte persisted in intro-
tlcing the smallest innovation in their present organisation.

• .
• The Frankfort Papers to the 21st inst., which
-arrived last night, inform us that two violent shocks of an earth-
quake, had been felt at Bucharest at half-past eight o'clock on
the evening of the 17th February last ; they were in a perpen-
gicular direction, and fortunately did no damage. The same
%rthquake was felt in other parts of Wallachia, and was fol-
lowed by weather so excessively cold, that in the night of the
'''°th of February, the thermometer of Rflaumur. was at 15 de-
-151, ees below the. freezing point. A severe degree of cold was
• ft3o experienced at Vienna towards the close o February, and
down to the middle of the present month anti. it is remarkable
that we have ourselves felt, for the last 'fortnight, an unusual
severity of climate. Russia is said, in these Papers, to be con-
solidating her prohibitory system by the most severe measures.
OR Saturday afternoon a Cabinet Council .as-
' !ernbled; agreeably to summons, at the Foreign. Office, Down,
I,lg;street. There were present, the Duke of Wellington, the
; ls of Liver col Harrowby, Westmoreland, and Bathurst,
thex.. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Secretary l'eel. Mr. Se-
cretary Canning,- &c. &c. The Cabinet sat in deliberation till
near five o'clock.•
Both Houses of Parliament will adjourn this
Meek fot• the Easter Recess—the Lords on Wed-
. nesday,•and the Commons on Thuisday. The
•adjournment will be for a fortnight.