The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-09 00:00:00

14 S VS N.

very opposite of all these predictions would result
from the measure before the Houee he should
be the last , man amongst their Lordships to
propose or support it. He trusted that he had
placed a just estimete on the naval pewer of Great
lernain, as well as on her mercantile merino, rod that
he was as alive as aoy or their Lord:l,ipe to the vast
importance of maintaining in full vigour the national
fleets, which at the moment when " Rule Britannia" had
been sung in the 'streets of Paris were not likely to be
abandoned to decay. But he did not anticipate any ie •
jury to the efficiency of the British navy from the pre-
sent measure. Neither did he apprehend any danger to
the national defences from its fe coming law. On the
contrary, it was that, in his opinion, the effect of the
measure would give increased employment to seamen,
and infuse invigoration into the trade, manufactures, and
commerce of Great Britain, that he supported it; and it
was by instituting new rewards for the industry of the
community, and by developing the resources of employ-
ment fur shipping, that the best guarantees would be '
found for the permanence of the national defences—
defences which had hitherto been sufficient to render
England the mistress of the seas, end by the blessing of
God would long continue to maintain her in that posi-
tione--(C beers.)
Earl NELSON could not help expressing his surprise
that the Noble Marquis who brought the Bill forward
should have looked with disdain on the expression of the
public opinion and at the petitions which had been pre-
sented against the Bill. For his own part lie believed
that the opposition shown to the Bill out of doors had
been elicited by a very general apprehension as to ins
effects upon the naval power of Great Britain. As to
the retaliatory clauses which the Bill contained, they
could never be enforced, and the first step after it be-
came law, would be to repeal those clauses. He would
now advert to the opinions held by a person whose me-
mory had been brought to their Lordship's recollection
by the Noble Earl opposite, who had connected the
battle of Trafalgar with the cause of the success which
had subsequently to that victory attended the British
mercantile marine. He must assert that the distin-
guished man whose name he had the honour to bear,
and whose memory deserved to be revered in that place
—(Hear)—entertained opinions on the subject of the
navigation-laws which well merited their Lordships' at-
tention. Although Lord Nelson had been dead many
years his memory was not forgotten, and although the
navigation laws had since he lived undergone great
changes, still the principle remaked the same as in his
day. He could not forget that Lord Nelson disobeyed
orders and subjected himself to trial by court-martial
in his determination to maintain the spirit of the naviga-
tion-laws in the West Indies. He pursued the same line
of policy at Copenhagen, and he had manifested the
deepest anxiety to spare the bloodshed which had oc-
curred at that city, in which he might have succeeded,
could he have got his Beet away in time from Yarmouth
Roads. Lord Nelson would never have been able to
make good the national defences of England in the year
1801 had not the navigation-laws existed; for where
could he have found sailors, or whence would England
have procured her commercial navy, but by means of
these laws? It was all very well to talk of peaceful ar-
bitrations; but, even supposing all the nations of Europe
greed to resort to that mode of settling disputes, what
security was there that some master spirit should not
rise up and force on a war, and how could the British
nation be sate if she had not a naval farce? Before he
sat down he would call upon the Right Rev. Bench
to resist the present Bill, because he saw in it the
sure sources of en increase in the slave-trade. He called
upon such of their Lordships as were free traders, to re-
sist it, because it was an imperfect measure, and must
soon be amended. He called upon all who had the in-
terest of their country at heart to oppose the measure,
and to trust to the experience of the past, rather than
to the vague promises which were founded on imprac-

ticable and unsound theories.
Earl BRUCE said that there never had been a mea-
sure which he had a more perfect conviction was a
right one than the present. If he thought the Bill
would impair the naval efficiency of the United Kingdom,
he would be the last man to support it. It had been ar-
gued by the opponents of the present measure that it
was better to leave things as they were. But he begged
to say, things could not be left as they were. The
colonies had lost the protection which they formerly
enjoyed, and it was natural for them to seek to indem-
nity themselves by extending their commerce and ship-
ping, and by obtaining fresh outlets fur their produc-
tions and industry.
Earl TALBOT said, that in the first place there was
not the slightest necessity for this measure; and, in the
second place, even were it desirable in any point of view,
its effect upon what should be our most cherished inte-
rest would be so deeply injurious that it ought never to
have been entertained by the Legislature. The fact was,
that this measure was nothing more nor less than another
attack upon our best institutions, by that free trade party
who, having got rid of the corn-laws, had determined
" to have a go" at the navigation-laws, which in the first
instance they had pronounced against. He was quite
favourable to reciprocity where reciprocity could be
fairly effected, but he must protest against giving every-
thing and getting nothing in return.
The Earl of WALDEGRAVE next addressed the
House, but in so low a tone of voice that none of his ob-
servations reacLei the gallery.
The ELrl of HARROW BY said that, before he ad-
dressed their Lordships on the subject before the House,
he wished to say a few words in reference to the obser-
vations of his Noble and Learned Friend respecting an
Hon. Friend of his, a Member of the other House of
Parliament, whose character had been alluded to last
night by his Noble and Lehned Friend. The charge
brought against the Hon. Member for Liverpool (Mr.
Cardwell) by his Noble Friend was, that he had acted
inconsistently with the pledges he made to the electors
of Liverpool in voting for the repeal of the navigation
laws. His Noble and Learned Friend was mistaken in
supposing that any such pledge was made. The Noble
Lord here referred to the circumstances attending the
late election for Liverpool, and quoted some documents
from which it appeared that Mr. Cardwell stated that he
would not vote for any measure which he thought would
injuriously affect the maritime and naval supremacy of
this country, that he would wait for the result of the
Committee which was sitting on the subject of the na-
vigation-laws, and that he should consider himself per-
fectly free and unfettered as to the course he should
pursue in reference to their repeal. Upon this state of
facts he was sure their Lordships would acquit the
Honourable Gentleman of the charge which his Noble
and Learned Friend brought against him.—(Hear, hear.)
With regard to the question before the House, he felt all
the difficulty of engaging their Lordships' attention upon
a subject which had been already so much discussed.
fie did not consider the principle of free trade and the
principle of protection as two absolute principles of right
and wrong—that they were the principles of good and
evil, and were to be applied absolutely without any
regard to other circumstances. He considered that the
principle of protection might be required in some cir-
cumstances for a great interest, and in other circum-
stances he thought that the principle of free trade ought
to be applied. And if there was any one subject in
reference to which this distinction should be observed it
was that of the navigation-laws. They never had in
fact rested long on one point with regard to them. They
had altered them from time to time; but in all these
changes they had stedfastly kept in view the prin-
ciple of reserving to themselves the large basis of
commercial marine, on which to rest the superstruc-
ture of the naval power of this country.—( Hear, hear.)
The maintenance of their maritime and naval supre
macy was something distinct from and superior to mere
commercial interests, and when they had to decide be-
tween the two it was necessary that the latter should
give way.—(llear.) His Noble Friends opposite allowed
that this was a just view. The question, therefore, was,
whether this was a measure dangerous to their naval
supremacy, and whether, without the aid of these laws,
they could maintain that supremacy. A great quantity
of statistics had been brought forward to show that the
repeal of the navigation-laws would not affect their
supremacy at sea, but the way in which these sta-
tistics had been prepared tended rather to obscure
than to throw light on the question at issue.
The statistics to which he referred had been got up by
a gentleman connected with the Board of Trade, with
whom he was on terms of private intercourse, but of
whose returns on this subject a sense of public duty
compelled him to say what he thought.--(Hear, hear.) In
the first place, any person who read these papers must
see that they were produced for the purpose of operating
on the public mind in regard to this question. These
returns had reference to the results of the free trade
measures of the last few years, with regard to that
part of their trade which was now practically unpro-
tected. But they were produced not on a question of
trade, but on a question uf navigation. Now, it they
were not valuable as a guide upon a question of naviga-
tion they should not have been produced at all.—(Dear.)
A large mass of figures had been produced under the
gahowpfaeapgad of
steehaf
found
ueiwdutunprotected
ituodhwithout
danger
bta()hunof this egt eehrxi tradespi
on.
nelnominally
t looking
knm nco show
competition
ge ohi t
foi
closelyowt
hnu en twph with
e it
lastonht
tt
unprotected
treh ydet:
yhsteceuraoabur
dj
sl d as
nations , e
u.
eeetthiet
larger portion was practically protected, and that there
was not that free and open intercourse which alone was
the question at issue.—(Hear.) They were told that
they could compete without protection with foreign
countries—that they could compete with the mercantile
marine of China, of Sumatra and Java, the Mexican
States, and South America. They were told they could
compete with Russia, which had but small navigating
power and little taste for maritime pursuits—that they
could compete with Turkey—with Austria, which had but
a limited sea frontage. The result to which these papers
would lead their Lordships, in consequence of the classifica-
tion adopted and the headings given, was that they
could compete with all these countries, one by one.
This was one part of these documents.
result of
whichdocuments.The ldowthoeurpagort
of this unprotected trade,
tsNoith
foreign satisfy them
nations, that
itnh eycold
navigation, compete, e
d t
to
unprotected,Fran ce
and the United
Germany, the United Netherlands,
outoecid
ta0tn58.56,1300u0t
gaisaonndlywa2s62s stated
England was owing
whatever to indi-
catete States.ms , hirrlshte thattoia on ta tonnage
aonfcdeEdw
m rehended the vast
there t
to
tahse nmo
thatnote
thisap appended—nothing
to steam-boat ofnavigation—that
Channel,—(Hear, hear.)
re-
peated passages across the
variety of steam-vessels whichthat it
comprehended
constant and h
that was the impression
of st a-going vessels, although Now, this could not be called an increase in the tonnage
which these papers would create in their Lordship's
told there was a
great increase in the open trade with the
the sub-
ject, the increase of the vessels of the United States was
but they were never told that if they examin
Unitedd States;
British
still greater.—(Cheers.) They were toad that the
tonnage engagt d in the open unprotected trade with the
United States amounted, in 1846, to 811,000 tons.
Those who were acquainted with the intercourse be-
tween the two countries must have been startled at such
a statement. Here, again, it was found on inquiry, that
Ithis amount of tonnage was made up much'in the same
way us the tonnage between this country and the coun-