The Sun.
London, England, 1822-04-20 00:00:00

NAVIGATION LAWS.

PETITIONS against against Mr. WALL&CE's BILLS. for RE-
PEALING these LAWS.
LONDON.
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland in. Parliament assembled.
The humble' Petition of the undersigned Ship Owners of
London,
Sheweth—That your Petitioners have seen with the utmost
alarm that Bills have been introduced into your Hon. House,
to relax the provisions of the Navigation Acts of the 12th, 13th,
and 14th of Charles.lL, to the extent of admitting the importa-
tion into the United Kingdom of the productions of every
party of the world, froth any part of the world, without re-
gard to the place of their growth or production, provided only
that the importation from the last place of shipment be made
in British vessels.
That your Petitioners have ever been taught to consider, and
their own experience has strengthened the conviction, that the
British Navigation Laws are admirably calculated to promote
the dearest and most essential interests of this country; and they
consider them, also, to be strictly consistent with justice, since
it is no more than reasonable that islands like Great Britain
and Ireland, which depend for-their safety and prosperity upon
their marine, should so regulate their intercourse with other
nations as to secure to themselves the means of efficiently
supporting it, which they confidently believe can only be done
by retaining the whole of the carrying trade with States which
have no ships of their awn, as well as that portion of the car-
rying trade with other countries, which, in their intercourse with
this kingdom, those countries are unable or unwilling to carry
on in their own ships.
That this principle has now been acted upon for upwards of
two centuries, and with the aid of our free Constitution has, un-
der Providence, raised this kingdom to unequalled prosperity
and power. Your petitioners, therefore, cannot but look upon
any departure from it—not called for by some imperious neces-
sity—as a most dangerous experiment.
That the proposed relaxation is decidedly of that character,
and although it is admitted by the authors of the Bills to be
impossible to calculate with certainty all its bearings and
consequences," yet they bring it forward without, as your peti-
tioners conceive, any adequate necessity. The promoters of
the measure assert, it is true, that it would " be easily suscep-
tible of modification, should circumstances hereafter arise to
render such modification essential to the protection of any of the
great objects which every consideration of the national safety
and power imposes the duty of inflexibly maintaining ;" hut
your petitioners trust that your Hon. House will rather forbid
this dangerous experiment than trust to the chance of being
able to rectify the error hereafter, which must be a work of the
greatest uncertainty, and would doubtless involve this country
in difficult discussions with any foreign State that might be
reaping the advantage so needlessly offered to them.
That your Petitioners beg to state to your Honourable
House, that they are well aware of the many impediments and
hardships in which our commercial intercourse with foreign
nations has been involved ; but these, they conceive, have
arisen rather out of the number and complexity of our laws,
than fiom the principle of them; and although the evil conse-
quences have, on many occasions, been mitigated by the consi-
derate interposition of his Majesty's Government, they have,
in numerous instances, operated with severity upon merchants
and ship-owners, and involved innocent parties in serious em-
barrassment and loss. But your Petitioners beg humbly to
suggest, for the consideration of your Honourable House, whe-
ther every difficulty of this nature might not be effectually re-
moved by that consolidation and simplification of the numerous
laws relating to foreign trade, which your Petitioners are happy
to see is in progress ' • and by regulations for admitting to entry
the productions of Asia, Africa, and America, when brought
from other countries than those of their growth or production,

to be warehoused for re-exportation only:
That assuming the opinion to be well founded, that if the
principle of the navigation laws were to be relaxed as proposed
by the said bills, importations of the productions of the several
parts of the world would not take place to any considerable or
in jurious,extent, then your Petitioners would humbly submit
to your Honourable House, that there is no sufficient necessity
for breaking down that long established principle ; but if, on
the contrary, such indirect importations should occur to a consi-
derable extent, then, in fact, the effect would be to transfer a
great portion of the benefits of our navigation and warehousing
systems from this country to the ports of Holland and the
Netherlands as your Petitioners feel confident would be the case,
and the consequences could not fail to be of the most injurious
description.
Your Petitioners, therefore, most humbly entreat, that your
Honourable House will not sanction a departure from the long
established and hitherto highly cherished policy of the British
navigation code, your Petitioners being satisfied that the pur-
pose of improving the general foreign trade of the country may
be much more effectually attained by the means which they
have suggested ; and, above all, that your Honourable House
will not entertain the idea that the evils which would arise
from the relaxation of the navigation laws, as proposed by
the said bills, .could easily, if ever, be repaired ; your Peti-
tioners being firmly convinced that as the benefits of the pre-
sent system have been great and lasting, so would .the mis-
chiefs resniting from any material departure from it prove to
be most disastrous and irremediable. And your Petitioners
will ever pray.—London, April 15, 1822.

LIVERPOOL.,
The following is the Substance of the Petition of the Liver-
pool Ship-owners on the Navigation Bill presented to the House
of Commons :
" That your Petitioners have seen the copy of a Bill now in
progress and printed by order of your Honourable House, in-
titled A Bill for the encouragement of Navigation and Com-
merce, by regulating the Importation of Goods and Merchan-
dise, so far as relates to the Countries from whence, and the
Ships in which, such importation shall be made ;" the first
clause of which they observe with deep, concern, will, if passed
into a Law, effect an important alteration in the existing Navi-
gation Laws ; and will not only prove highly prejudicial to the
individual welfare of your Petitioners, but will also, in their
opinion, be subversive of the best interests of the country.
" That the Shipping Interest, as essentially connected with
the prosperity, the security, and independence of the Empire,
has ever received the particular consideration and protection of
the Legislature.
" That your Petitioners observe by the clause above alluded
to, that it is intended that it shall be lawful to import into this
country from any place whatever, in British vessels, the pro-
ducts of Asia, Africa, and America, which, under the present
existing laws, can only be imported (with some few exceptions)
direct from the places of growth.
" That the trade between those Continents, particularly the
British Asiatic dominions, and this Country, is carried on in
vessels of considerable tonnage, and navigated with a propor-
tionate number of British seamen ; and your Petitioners cannot
contemplate without the most serious alarm the adoption of a
measure which may transfer the most important part of the
trade from them.to the shipping of other nations, and would
probably leave to the British Ship-owners nothing more than
the freight from the ports of Europe to this country.
" That your petitioners are aware it has been urged that there
is little to fear from the rivalry of other nations—but when they
reflect that the rate of wages paid to seamen on board of vessels
belonging to the Northern,lllaritime States is not more than
one half of what is paid to British sailors—and the price of all
sorts of provisions and naval stores, used on board such vessels,
is much below what such articles cost in this country, where
naval stores in particular are, liable to the payment of high du-
ties on importation—and that the habits of the seamen of those
countries enable them to dispense with many articles which are
deemed not merely comforts, but necessaries by British seamen—
they cannot help considering it as a measure pregnant with the
most ruinous consequences to the interests of the British Ship-
owners.
" That for the great and important sacrifice called for by this
measure, your petitioners have in vain looked among the provi-
sions of this Bill for any equivalent or compensation—no ad-
vantage can, in their opinion, result to them individually, or to
the country at large ; but, on the contrary, it appears to them
that the probable consequence of the enactment will be to grant
facilities to foreigners, which will induce them to embark in the
trade with those countries where their own manufactures may
in a great measure enter into competition with those of this
country, to the manifest injury of British merchants and ma-
nufactures.
" That the cargoes exported to those countries, particularly
to India, are composed almost entirely of British produce or
manufactures—that the returns, such as sugar, saltpetre, pep-
per, indigo, hides, cotton, and many other articles, are sold to
a considerable extent, and exported to the continent of Europe ;
but should the proposed clause become a law, this favourable
state of trade may be reversed, for as the articles brought to
this country by an indirect route would be only those intended
for home consumption, the quantity Imported for such purpose
could not be increased, whilst the general aggregate quantity
would in all probability be materially lessened, and the effect
of the warehousing system, which your petitioners trust will
one day render this country the emporium of the trade of the
world, would thereby be materially retarded, and part of its ad-
vantages transferred to other Nations.
" That the policy by which the proposed regulation appears
to be dictated, has never been recognised or acted upon by other
nations, who have almost invariably excluded us from all inter-
course with their foreign possessions, by the imposition of high
duties upon our shipping.
" Considering, therefore, the measure as entirely uncalled
for, and as one likely to produce very injurious consequences to
the interest of your Petitioners, and the nation at large, they
humbly, but earnestly pray, that the clause in question may be
taken out of the