The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-22 00:00:00

(the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had only a small surplus
at present for the repeal of taxes, and he would therefore
put to the House, whether it was not better to reduce the
tax on caindles and sea-borne coal than the tax on sugar ?
(Hear hear.) He had never advocated the repeal of the
sugar tax as a benefit to the West India planters, but as a
benefit to the consumers. He contended that the reduc-
tion of the whole duty on sugars would be no benefit to
the planters, unless they could obtain that which would
never be tolerated by the people of this country—a com-
plete monopoly of ti,e English market. He was glad to
hear the Noble Marquis declare fiat he was anxious to
have tie slave question settled. He assured the House, that
no efforts should he wanting on the part of the Govern-
ment to settle that important question ; but until that
trade was put a stop to, all attempts to reduce the sugar
ditties must prove ineffectual, and ultimately abortive.
Government bad devoted its most cateful attention to the
subject, and could divine no means of accomplishing the ob-
ject which theNobleLord had in view, except the settlement
of t.he loog-agitated question of the slave trade. -Need he re-
mind gentlemen of the ciy raised throughout the country
against the slave trade during the last general election ?
He was sure he need not ; and although he, as an humble
individual, had never joined in that cry, yet he could not
be insensible of the vast importance of it. To have
raised that cry might have been wrong ; it might have
been injudiciously encourages; but they all knew well
that the people had a right to approach tba- Housf, as pe-
tition,re, and to say, " How long will you allow your
',solution of 1823 to remain neglected ? How long will
you allow your advice to be passed over unregarded ?
How long will you allow your authority to be set at
tionght ?" In a word, he hogged to assure the Noble
Lord that the Govermnont had every disposition to do
they could to relieve 'Jae distress complained of; and he
trusted that the Noble Lord would see how much more
desirable it was to helve the matter to that House, and to
a Government so disposed, titan to persevere in this at-
tempt to impede thos•! supplies which were essential to the
service of the State.

Mr, HART DAVIS pet foctly coneurre,l in the cpi&on
that if the duties were to be taken off rum and sugar,
the whole of tie reduction would not go into the packets
of the planters ; but then part of it would the that di-
rection, while the consumer would be greatly benefitted.
lie did think the West India proprietors h,d a claim
for r,lief—he did nr,t mean.ft,r any specific relief, but for
stud' a relief as it should appear they were entitled to.
He would take this opportunity of putting a question to
the Noble Lord (Althorp) on a subject in which the public
generally were greatly interested, and particularly his con-
stituents. The Noble Lord had expressed his intention
of bringing in a Bill to prohibit the growth of tobacco in •
Ireland. He begged to know whether the Noble Lord
n eaut to introduce such a measure ? Fle would take the
fl. sent opportunity also of asking the Noble Lord whether
he intended to persist in his proposed duties on timber,
or whether he meant to alter them; or whether—which
would be far the most desirable course—the Nob!e Lord
meant to a',andon that part of his proposition altogether
Mr. ROBINSON hoped that the Noble Lord would
not hastily answer the question of the lion. Member for
Bristol, with regard to the duties on timber, because, as
the Noble Lord well knew, the pets:ins most interested in
that part of the Noble Lord's proposition were about
to submit certain considerations to the Government.
As to the subject immediately under discu-sion, the
No!de Lnrd who had brought it forward had esta-
bbshed that great &stress exist el in our West India
colonies; and, indeed, that had not been denied by
the Government. He strongly objected to a topic se irri-
tating as that of slavery being :nixed up with a question
purely commercial, like the present. The chief ground of
complaint of the West Indian proprietors was, as it ap-
peared to him, that there had been an infi action, on the
peat of the executive Government, of a treaty entered
into between the Government and the West Indian
proprietors. The terms of that areement were, that the
duties imposed were to be considered as a war tax, and
that they should not be continued in time of peace. Ne-
vertheless, the duties had not been altered ; and this he
considered as a just and strong ground of complaint.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was
perfectly ready to adroit that the distress which existed
in the \Vest India interest demanded serious attention, and
should not have the slightest objection to agree to the ap-
pointment of a committee to inquire into the whole case.
—( hear.) He objected to the rnntio❑ now before the
House, because if met as such a motion ought to be met,
it worm] be impossible that they could go into a Coni-
.nittee of supply. lie was bound to say that neither the
Noble Lord nor the seconder of the motion hid in the
least eegrt e exaggerated the distress complained of ; and he
begged to assure the House that there was no man more
ready than he was to alleviate that distress, if he saw the
means of doing so.---( Hear.) But with all the considera-
tion which he had been able to give to the subject, and
after the most arentive examination of all the circum-
stances connected with it by the Board of Trade, he must
say that none of tie , propositions brought forward as re-
medies had appeared to the Government capable of being
adopted consistently with the general interests of the
country. He had been misunderstood with regard to
what he had arid on a former• occasion with respect to the
sugar duties. He hail said that he did not think that the
reduction of the duty on sugar would confer any great be-
nefit on the planter, and he still adhered to that opinion.
It was not necessary for• him on that occasion to en•er into
his reasons for that opinion, especially' since his Right
Hon. Friend near him Iran already stated then► to the
House. Allow him, however, to say, that, in looking at
the general taxation of the country, it did not appear to
him that the duty on sugar ought to be the first tax to be
taken off.—( Hear, hear.)—lt had generally been said in
tiers House to any gentleman who proposed that a cer-
tain tax should be taken off,—" You must propose a sub-
stitute." Yet, gentlemen bad come forward that evening,
who, after objecting to the taxes which he proposed to
substitute for taxes which he had taken off, gravely asked
him to take off another tax, namely, the sugar duty.—
( Hear, hear.)—Now, surely this was not reasonable.
—(Hear.)—lle would put it to ',every Hon. Gentleman
who heard him,—he would appeal even to the West
Indian proprietors themselves,—whether it was not much
more to the advantage of the country that the duty should
be taken off coals and candles than off sugar.—(Cheers.)—
As to the timber duties,—this, he admitted, was not the
proper time for discussing his proposition with regard to
them. As, however, when that subject came tinder dis-
c•ussion, he should be prepared to show that his proposition
would not be injurious to Canada, he had no hesitation in
stating now, in answer to the Hon. Member for Bristol,
that it was not his intention to make the slightest altera-
tion in the proposed timber duties. Reverting to the mo-
tion of the Noble Lord, he had only to observe, that al-
though he felt it necessary to resist that motion, yet, if the
Noble Lord thought that in a Committee any means of
reconciling the conflicting interests could be devised, be
certainly should not object to the appointment of such a
Committee. Ile was quite sure that to reduce the duty
on rum would militate against many important interests
of this country ; and he was convinced, that if he had pro-
posed such a measure to the House, he should have pro-
posed it in vain —(Hear, hear.)—Before he sat down, he
had to answer another question of the Hos. Member tor
Bristol. It related to a measure respecting the growth of
tobacco in Ireland. R hen he proposed to prohibit the
growth of tobacco in Ireland, he was fully aware of the
ohjecions which would be made in Ireland to such a
course, yet as he proposed to accompany that prohibitory
measure with such a reduction of duty on tobacco as would
be acceptable to the population of Ireland as well as of
England, he saw that he had a means of obviating the ob-
jections which would otherwise have been urged against
prohibiting the growth of tobacco in Ireland. Circurn-
sturces had compiled him to abandon his plan for reducing
the duty on tobacco, and, considering the present feeling in
Ireland, Ile felt the prudence of postponing—and he post-
poned it with much regret—the measure for prohibiting
the growth of tobacco in Ireland.
Mr. HUME was convinced that the best thing that
could be done would be to allow the introduction of East
India sugar into competition with the West India sugar.
This would do away with much ill-feeling, and would do
no harm to the West Indian planter. He hoped that the
Noble Lord who had brought forward this motion would
withdraw it, and move for the appointment of a committee.
Mr. C. GRANT need hardly say that he admitted the
merits of the Noble Lord's motion ; but as it would ob•
struct the Conunittee of Supply, he felt himself reluctantly
compelled to oppose it. This was the only ground on
which he took his stand in opposition to the Noble Lord.
Allow him to suggest also to the Noble Lord that a Com-
mittee of Inquiry might be the best mode of proceeding.
Mr. BERNAL should support the motion. This was
a ease which had forced itself on the consideration of the
House, and though he did not blame this Government more
than any other Government, yet he must say that there
had always been on the part of Governments a culpable
and neglectful ignorance with regard to the West Indian
and colonial interests. The only reason that the West
Indian interest bad endured their hardships so long was,
that it was a weak interest. He did not think that his
Right Hon. Friend (Mr. P. Thomson) need have held
out to them as a threat the public feeling on the
subject of slavery. Ile was surprised to have beard
his Right Hon. Friend say that he saw no means of re-
lieving the distress of the West Indian interest, except
the settlement of the question of slavery. This from his