The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-17 00:00:00

NAVIGATION-LAWS.

The HoN. MEMBER also asked the Noble Lord at the
head of the Government a question relative to public
business. Would the Noble Lord be good enough to
inform the House when Ministers intended to take the
third reading of the Navigation Bill.
Lord J. RUSSELL said he intended to take the re-
port on Thursday, and the third reading on Monday.
APPREHENSION OF DESERTERS (PORTU-
GAL) BILL.
This Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be
committed.
COLONIAL EXPENDITURE.

Mr. SCOTT then rose to move for a Select Committee
co inquire into the political and financial relations be-
tween Great Britain and her dependencies, with a view
to reduce the charges on the British Treasury, and to
enlarge the functions of the Colonial Legislatures. He
said he owed an apology to the House for venturing to
bring so important a subject under consideration,
because when he remembered that no allusion
was made to it in the Speech from the Throne,
he felt that the subject became one of too much
importance to be dealt with by an humble Member
like himself. When he remembered, too, the divi-
sion of opinion which existed in the House on
the subject, he felt that he ought to shrink
from introducing the question, but, on the other hand,
when he recollected the interests which were involved in
the prosperity of our colonial empire, he could
not help thinking that it behoved every man, how-
ever humble his station and ability might be, to
endeavour to bring about a better system of government
for the colonies than at present existed.—(Hear.) The
❑umber of our colonies was somewhere between 40 acd 50,
while they were about forty or fifty times as large as th•
British empire; our exports to these colonies were far
greater than the exports to all the other parts of the
world put together. Our tonnage and shipping trade
was the same, for in 1845, while the tonnage to
fortign ports amounted to '2,250,0001., the tonnage
to colonial ports was no less than 3,170,0001. The
present expense of governing the colonies amounted to
no hss than 5,600,000/. The population of the
colonies, half of whom were negroes and other
coloured races, was five millions. Now, it
was said that this country was extravagantly taxed;
but if that were so, as no doubt it was, the colonies had
double cause for complaint, inasmuch as the population
of these countries amounted to 30,000,000, and the tax-
ation to 24,000,0001., giving only 16s. a head, while the
population of the colonies being 5,000,000, with
5,600,0004 of taxes, gave as much as 28s. per head.
Now it did appear to him to be a subject worthy of in-
quiry whether the enormous cost of governing our
colonies was owing to the extensive tracts of
continent which we possessed in Asia, in Africa,
in America, and in Australasia, or whether; it was
not rather due to ono small responsible and
geographical spot in Downing-street; and when
they talked of making changes in our colonial govern-
ment, he thought it behoved them to consider whether
they might not with great advantage make some changes
nearer home. When they talked of giving up the colonies
—and he knew that such an opinion was entertained by
some Honourable Members opposite—he thought they
might, with great advantage to this country, pro-
pose giving up something in the metropolis.—
(Hear.) Mr. Adam Smith stated that the government of
the English colonies in North America would not cost
the inhabitants more than 64,700/. a year. " Such,"
added that eminent writer, "is a memorable example of
the small expenditure for which three millions of people
may not only be governed, but well governed." Then
the highest possible authority in this country—he
meant Earl Grey—stated, on the 10th of August, 1848,
that our system of colonization was never so perfect,
as at the present time. If, then, our system of coloni-
zation was so much more perfect than it was in 1770,
when Adam Smith wrote, and when three millions of
persons were governed for 64,7004, they might surely
calculate that five millions of subjects might at the
same rate be governed for 105.107/. But in these days
of perfection no less than ,3,372,1981. was required for
the government of the British colonies. It costs now
as much to govern 100,000 persons as it d'd for three
millions in 1770, and it required 140 times as much to
govern every subject in the Mauritius as it did when
colonization was not so well understood. Although
the salaries received by the Governors of the
Mauritius and Ceylon exceeded the amount required
in 1770 to govern three millions, Earl Grey stated
before the Committee on the miscellaneous estimates
that the colonial governors were exceedingly under-
paid. The Honourable Member then referred to the
opinion expressed by a statesman in 1845, who
thought that we had better return to the policy of
our ancestors, and allow the colonies to govern them-
' selves, and who said that although they might commit
some serious mistakes, from all his expe-
-1 rience he was in favour of self-government.
Earl Grey was now the statesman in power with the
means of carrying out his political views as a states-
, man; but with his change of place a change had
come over the Noble Lord. The praise of the Noble
Lord formerly related to times paat, but his praise
was now re:erred to the future. The colonies, at
the period to which Lord Grey alluded, I?ad
charters of self-government at that time given to them,
in nignv 4,A...e5_ during the period of the Stuarts,