The Sun.
London, England, 1822-03-25 00:00:00

WEST INDIA INTERCOURSE.

THE
_SPEECH of the late RIGHT GEORGE

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ROSE against the AMERICAN INTERCOURSE
BILL of 1306. •
RosE spoke-to. the following' effect No man, in
this House rates the abilities of the Right Hon. Secretary (Mr.
Vox) more highly than I do, but he has not eonsidered this
subject with the attention it merits. Ile says the Bill under
considerition repeals no law. It is -true, Sir, the word " re-
peal". does not occur in it; but the enactments do effectually
and exiiressly remove all the colonial- restraints in the Naviga-
tion Act, the principle of which was established as early as the
time of Richard ; "further regulations were Made for the
benefit of British shipping in
.subsequent reigns, till that of
Charles 11. when the system was broaght to nearly its present
state of perfection. Under the wise and provident restrictions
of the law then passed, our naval power has grown to its pre-
sent strength ; it is on that ground, I contend, no permanent
alterations should suddenly be adopted :—the distinction be-
tween a repeal and a perpetual suspension, as in this case, will
be found to be rather a nice one. The Act of the 12th of
Charles 11. ch. 13. provides " 'that nothing shall be imported
into, or exported from the Plantations," except in British
ships, on pain of forfeiting the ships, Zn.c. Under this Bill,
the importation and exportation in foreign vessels into and
from our Islands is unlimited; but we are tbld that, in point
of fact, this Act has been suspended from time ,to time, the
truth of which, during the last and present war, partially and
for limited periods, I admit : but that was, however, done
under a severe and strict responsibility of the Governors of the
several Islands, who were amenable to the Secretary of State
fontheir conduct, and on whose representation their indemnity
from Parliament depended ; there was, therefore, reasonable
security against the misapplication of their power, and that is
completely rescinded by this measure. We arc told, indeed,
that the responsibility is only shifted to his Majesty's Ministers ;
what reliance we may have on that may be judged
,from what
fell from the Right Hon. Gentleman whn professes a decided
opinion that this is indispensably necessary in time of war,
and thinks it may be fit to be continued also' in peace. Such
sentinients4rom an authority so high and respectable are se-
riously alarming : and if acted upon, a deadly blow will be
given to our naval power. I will bring under the view of the
Committee as shortly
-as I can, the regulations made for go=
verning the trade between Great Britain and her Colonies, and
the American States, from the time of the separation of the
latter from the former. After the conclusion of the American
war, the new situation in which we were placed by this event
• led to an Set being passed in 1783, to enable his Majesty by
orders in Council to make regulations for carrying on the trade '
with Ameriea, under the authority, whereof a proclamation
was issued, confining the trade between the United States and
our Colonies to British ships exclusively. At that restriction
the Assembly of Jamaica, and the West India Proprietors in
general became greatly alarmed, and made lively and strong
remonstrances to the Council against it, urging that the conse-
quences of it must be ruinous to the Islands. These cum-
; plaints,were immediately attended to, and the parties were fully
and patiently heard before the Committee for Trade: they were
permitted to produce evidence as long as they had any to offer,
and all other persons were called upon who were thought
likely to throw any light on the subject, including merchants
• resident in Great Britain, late Governors in America, and Bri-
tish settlers in that country. This inquiry, conducted'with the
utmost impartiality, lasted two or three months, and ended in
a report recommending that the proclamation confining the
trade to British ships should be enforced. It could, indeed,
have no other termination, as it was satisfactorily proved to the
Lords that the supplies to the Islands might be regularly fur-
nished in these ships at moderate prices ; and that the sale of
runt would not thereby be prejudiced. The trade was accord-
ingly so carried on from that year (1784,) to 1793, without the
slightest inconvenience having been experienced in either of
those_iespects by the Islands ; they were plentifully supplied
with lumber and privisions• at moderate prices, Kind they
found a ready and fair market for their rum and molasses.
The good effects of this adherence to the Navigation
Laws were as striking as they are incontrovertible, 'as will be
seen by the rapid increase of colonial shipping, contrary to the
assertion of the West India Planters before the Committee for
Trade in 1785, who then stated that any shipping being fitted
from the islands was hopeless.—ln 1790, belonging to the West
India islands, 706 ships, 86,010 tons, 5,115 men. In 1804, re-
duced to 67 -ships, 7,629 tons, 626 men. To continental colo-
nies, in 1790, 229 ,ships, 24,900 tons, 1,452 men. In 1804,
100 ships, 11,906 tons, 734 men. In 1792, British ships in the-
American trade :inwards, 197 ships, 42,035 tons, 22,400 men.
In 1794, ditto 11 ships, 2,152 tons, 134 men. It must, how-
ever, be admitted, that the whole of the falling off' of the ships
from Great Britain was not owing to the suspension of the Na-
vigation Act, as there were other causes that contributed to
that.—l have already admitted that the. Governors of the
islands began, so early as the year 1793, or 1794, to relax from
a due observance of the Navigation Laws and I believe it
was, in most instances at least, necessary they should do so—
because, on the breaking out of the war, the trade in British
ships was much interrupted, and measures were not taken for
furnishing regular convoys; the suspensions were, however,
only partially restrained to particular articles, as well as li-
mited in time ; and' on the appointment of a Noble Duke and
myself to the Presidency anti Vice-Presidency of the Board of
Trade, in 1804, we made inquiries, the result of which in-
clined us to think that, even during war, the „terms of the
proclamation alluded to might be acted upon, if convoys could
be furnished. Instructions were indeed sent out to the Governors
in the West Indies in 1804, and 1805, in consequence of the
communications from the Committee of Trade, that occasioned
the relaxation of the Navigation Laws to be very much nar-
rowed, and fortified, by which the Governors were preparing
the Islands for an adherence to them, except in cases of real
and urgent necessity. The Governor of Barbadoes, in parti-
cular, strongly expressed the support he derived from his in-
structions, and his hope that he should succeed to the extent
desired, making great complaints of the unnecessary interfe-
rence of foreigners with our Colonial Navigation, and of the
illicit practices of the Americans in particular. In other islands
the supplies in neutrals were restrained, as far- as related no
provisions, but under the provisions of the present Bill,
all the proceedings of the late Committee •of Trade will
be rendered utterly useless, and the whole 'Trade' to
our 'Colonies will be completely thrown open to foreigners.
We are told, however, that this is a measure of abso-
lute necessity. I deny that; it is also denied by persons
much more capable of forming a correct judgment on the point
than any of ua in this Committee. What is it then we ask ?
Not that our opinion shall at once be acted upon, but that an
inquiry shall be had to prove who is right, and that a determi-
nation may be taken conformably thereto. I will undertake
positively that such an inquiry shall be gone through in four or
five days, at the utmost, before a Committee up stairs, which
would not delay the progress of the Bill a single hour ; if that
shall be granted, I have good reason to believe it will be proved
to demonstration that the opinion entertained by the Noble
Duke before alluded to, and, myself, respecting a regular
supply to the Islands in British ships, is a correct one : there
are merchants of the highest respectability, and ship-owners,
who are ready to embark iii 'circuitous trade from hence to
America, the West Indies, and lime, as soon as they can be
assured of convoys, if this Bill shall be dropped : that can be
proved. before a Committee. Will you then refuse to men
entitled to every attention that can be shewn to them, the op-
portunity of establishing these facts by proof, 'when no pos-
sible inconvenience can arise from your doing so ? I believe
titers is no instance of an l'iiquiry being refused in such a case;
what then will be thought of our proceedings if we should shut
our doors against such petitioners as are now before us, who
tell us we are about to adopt a measure as injurious to
the country as it must. be ruinous to them ; and
that if we withhold our hands, their ships, now rotting
by the walls, will find profitable employment ? Has this been
asked for ? If by any body, let us know by whom. Since
the Bill came into the House, some West India gentlemen,
who now, as on other occasions, expressed an approbation of
it ;—if an inquiry is granted, the petitioners undertake to shew
to those gentleman' that they could not suffer by the Naviga-
tion Laws being enforced, that they would send out ships, and
settle correspondences to ensure a regular and ample supply for
the islands, which-would insure increased means for bringing
hoMe the crops ; whereas it was notorious that for want of a
sufficiency of ships in the trade, more than 20,000 hogsheads
of sugar were left in Jamaica in the last years, and great quan-
tities in the Leeward Islands. Can his Majesty's Ministers,
under such circumstances as these, refuse an inquiry ? Can
they so treat men entitled to respect and consideration ? And
I will venture to ask also, will they so set at defiance the pub-
lic opinion, without being able to suggest any reason whatever
for such a refusal, for as yet we haye heard none, nor can I
form an imagination of a plausible one. If they are confident
they are right, why not take to themselves- the triumph of
proving that, and exposing our error ? By refusing investiga-
tion, the impression on-the miners of all impartial people must
be unfavourable to Ministers ; there has been no inquiry even
before the Committee of Trade to justify this measure, a thing
likewise unheard of. The Noble Lord has suggested the dif=
ticulties that may attend regular convoys being granted, from
the gigantic efforts of our enemies for the destruction of our
trade in this war ; what answer has ,heen given by the Admi-
salty to the question to them respecting convoys before I left
the-Committee for Trade I cannot tell ; but after 'the almost
total destruction of the Naval power Of all our enemies, I did
not expect to hear any dread expressed of their gigantic efforts
on the seas ; I certainly entertained a hope that one of the
good consequences of our great and brilliant naval victories
would be a facility in protecting our trade in every part of the
world.—l cannot be less anxious than the Noble Lord, or any
other member, that there should be no uncertainty or tlucttta-