The Sun.
London, England, 1809-12-26 00:00:00

THE BLOC,FsriIDLNG SYSTEM.

We some time agn directed the attertion of the
Public to a .very able pamphlet, written: by Sir
Francis D'lvernois, 'on the effects of the Conti-
nental
block de upon the commercial credit and
prosperity of Great Britain. From documents of
ungtieStionable aathority the author-there, qerron-
strated that-the Decrees of Milan and Berlin, so far
from distressing our trade, as Buonaparte so fondly; .
but foolish- imagined would be the result, on the co
trary they added considerably to its extent and. pros 7
perity, so much so, indeed, that the expOrts of the
year 1-808, since the blockade, exceeded those of the
four preceding years, previous to the blockadej by no
less a sum than. 1,g39.0361. Thus baffled were the
pursuits and hopes of the. Usurper with regard to the
commercial interests of Great Britain. .Let ug. now
see how far they have affeEted those of Ireland. In'
this statement Sir F. -D'lvernois affords us a double
;I‘ist-a6linti, by exhibidng at once the most triutn-
phant proofs of the benefi,ial influence of the great
measure of the Union in that country, and the
traordinary increase, of its trade since Buonaparte's
absurd attempt to circumscribe and annihilate it.
The exportations- frOrn• Ireland, the author ob-
serves, in manufactures and articles of her own.
growth, which in the year 1806, previous to. the
Berlin Decree, amounted 'to 9,314,3541, real valu6-

expel it aced a sudden rise.
1n .1307 to - to, ri0,385
= to - i 2,567,5 17
This increase of more than a third; in the short
space- of two, years,' is wholly Withontexample in
the-history cat commerce. The annals,• even of Bri-
tish commerce, do not affoid an instance of a sinai-
lar augmentation in the industry and labour that give
. life and activity to external trade.
What a singular phenomenon t. With 6- population
by two-or three mi:Tiolis less numerous than that of
the United States of America, Ireland, since•:the
American embargo,. not only has reached, but even.
ont-stripped them in her powers and means or ex-
portation. The:exports of her grOWth hi 1808, est-
cteded by' a fifth, 'tire exports of America in 1806,
aliliough the Americans have been considered as the
people of all the-world who were advancing with the
mo,t relit strides in the career of productive labour
and commercial wealth.
This state ni things presents another phenomenon
nog less singular: The, public revenue of Ireland has
increased in a triple proportion since the Uoion. If
we take tbe average of the three years, 1796, 1797,
1798, the nett . produce amounted- only to 1,860,7971.
-while in 1808, it rose to 6,174,5611.
.But perhaps it
will be asked m hether the collection.of this increas-
ed revenue liar not exceeded the means of the people
who eleven years had so much of the aspen of pi-
Verty, depression, and discontent ; and when it was
shrewdly conleaured that the fitst step towards its
improvement, Would be to make the country sensible
of the Ik3lllS it laboured under: The doubts expresr
sed on this occasion might be very seasonable, if the
increase in the revenue to which reference rs jnade,
was. owing to. direal taxes,, from the payment of
which the people could -not escape, and the triple
product of which'copld only indicate a proportionate
retrenchment in the comforts they enjoyed. For-
tunately, however, for -Ireland, ;and for the state of
her revenue, the rapidity of her wealth. is wholly at-
tributable to the duties paid on articles of corisump-
and the 'following statement will abutri,!antly
prove that the increase. in the comforts of the Irish
people has S t cattily kept pace with the increase of
their taxes.
Take for example, the consumption -of 'Sugar, a
commodity equally nutritive, agreeable, and whole-
some, the use of which is at the same time an article
of necessity for the Wealthier classes,..and en article
cc-mai:3lv at luxury for the poorer.
official value of sugars Imported', by which is indicated,
rot their deal value, but the. °relative. quantity, of the con-
iulaption or it :.t three tolipwing periods
- - - -h. 652,520
- - 93:,,517
- - - • 129,3 t

Now, let it be observed, that this commodity paid
a duty which last ) ear produced 642,41',01; 3 and
that nevertheless, Iron) a very recent period when
Ireland only coosurced the half of the 447,4.04 quin-
tals of sugar which the now consumes, this duty has
been raised frem tos. 2d., to I. g5..3d.. per quintal.
—And here a comprison may be instituted not less
curious than it is instructive. r•
The reports from the Custom-House .ontetior to
the blocKade of the Baltic, valued the importation'
of raw and -i'efitied sugars into Russia at four millions
ofroubtes, which would correspond with the purchase
of about Otte hunched thati;and quintals: Now with
regard to France, the last offici.il ,report which we
have on this subject • is that of Air. Chaptal, which
goes back to.the year 1800, and which asderl'aitied-,
the Consurniai• n of sugar,' which-, though double
that which took plate under the DireClorial Govern-
mew wes titnited to 3,20 thousand quintals.
/Omit ling- that Buonaparte bad succeeded only' in
diniiirsltiog, by one halt .the consumption of that
period, by the duties •which he doubled, quadrupled,
c,aupred, oees atter-the other, that he might place.
that commodity beyond the reach of the French, and
that be might the more etfeaually make them give up.
all relish for the expensive enjoyment of theie.exotic
luxuries, still it will appear, in the result, that the
five millions of the inhabitants of Iran-id-now con-
sume themselves alone, twice a greater quantity. of
sugar than the 80 millions of souls who compose tie
population' of the two vast empires of the East and
West. Nor should this excite so conch surprise.
The following fact is, not less extraordinary than -the
preceding our, and VI. hich serves indeed to explain it :
Since the union between the two islands, but more
etyeeiallv since the coAlition of Europe and the United
S;3tes of America against the commerce of both these
islauds, the comaierce of Ireland has. been revived
• to such a pitch, that in si 808, her joint exports and
iinPorts have amounted to 21,437,8431. real value
(.400n; 472 mlliunsof livres,) which, howeve-r, 3ncer-
tains for that island,•lately so poor and insiyinifie:eit, a
tra,leas flouri-thing, and, an interchange of colornoli-
ties as considerable as the whole commerce pt France,,
meaning,. ai ways, not Imperial France, impoverished
as it MUSE be by her conque,ts; bite t he,ancietit
ncLctiv Frate.T, at the most brilliant .zera of itcr
commerce, v. uci* Mr. N for the first time dis-
played the magnificent Pict re of herresourcesand ex-
clAtned—"What a ;•tonderful degree of power ! hoe:
many motives to silence all spirits of jealousy, and