The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-01 00:00:00

THE NAV! GATION LAWS.

A: tra naviga,ion are silspetniecl l•r the present,

by an Act which, altln,ugh only introduced to the fttaise
Common on WAne.day week, received the royal
assent on Tuesday last, the following brief history of
their first iestitution, and of the lAirp,st.s for which
th- y were fiincd, ma) be of some interest to our
re,ders

Th, navi2atioa laws• form (form,-,I) an important,
branch of rriari,iAi, Jaw. In this coutnry the) ar, un•
clersto,rl t rompris, the vhriotis Acts that have th,n
.iefii:ing British ships, to, may in which such

shires are to be manned, the peculiar privileges eejoyed
by them, and the conditions under which foreign ships
shall be allowed to engage in the trade of the country,
eiiher as iinporers or exeorters of commeditiee, or as
carriers of cemmedities from one part of the country to
rise .tree.
The oriein of the nevigation laws may he traced to
the rein of Rieherd 11., or, perhaps, to a still mare
remote riled ; but as ne intelligible account of the
va.iyieg and eiiivreil-ctery enactments framed at so
chstent an epoch could be conieressed ithin ony
reasonable sp ice, it is sutliceeit to observe,
that in the reign of Henry VII., two of the
leeding principles of the navigation laws were di, •
tinctly recognised in the prohibition of the importation of
certain commodities unless imported in ships belonging
to Eeglish owners, and inaneed by English seamen. In
the early part of the reign of` Elisabeth, foreign ships
were excluded from our fisheries and coasting trade.
The republican Parliament gave a great extension to
the navigation laws; by the Act of 1650, which prolii-
hited all ships of all foreign nations whatever from
trading with the plantations in America without having
obtained a licence. These Acts were, however, rather
intended to regulate the trade between the different
. ports and dependencies of the empire, than to regulate
our intercourse with foreigners. In the following year
(1651) the republican Parliament passed the famous
Act of Navigation. This Act had a double object. It
was intended not only to promote our own navigation,
but also to strike a decisive blow at the naval power of
the Dutch, who then engrossed almost the whole
carrying trade of the world, and against whom various
circumstances had transpired to incense the English.
The Act in question declared that no goods or commo-
dities whatever of the growth, production, or manu-
facture of Asia, Africa, or America should be im-
ported either into England or Ireland, or any of the
plantations, except in ships belonging to British sub-
jects, and of which the master and the greater
number -of the crew were also English. Having
thus secured the import trade of Asia, Africa, or Ame-
rica to the English shipowner, the Act went on to se-
cure to them as far as that was possible the import trade
of Europe. For this purpose it further enacted that no
goods of the growth, production, or manufacture of any
country in Europe should be imported into Great Bri-
tain except in British ships, or in such ships as were the
real property of the people of the country or place in
which the goods were produced, or from which they
could only be or most usually were exported. The lat-
ter part of the clause was entirely levelled against the
Dutch, who had but little native produce to support, and
whose ships were principally employed in carrying the
produce of other countries to foreign markets. Such
were the leading provisions of this famous Act. They
were adopted by the regal Government which succeeded
Cromwell, and forms the basis of the Act 12th Car. 11.
c, 18, which continued to a very recent period to be the
rule by which our naval intercourse with other countries
was mainly regulated, and has been pompously desig-
nated the Charta Maratima of England.
These laws continued in force till the beginning of the
present century. Considerable changes were effected in
them by Mr. Wallace, in 1821, and by Mr. Huskisson,
in 1825, and partly by the adoption of what has been
called the reciprocity system. Under the Act 6th
George IV., cap. 109, the intercourse of all European
countries in amity with Great Britain was placed on the
same footing. The memorials of our former animosity,
and of our jealousy of the prosperity of certain of our
neighbours were abolished. This uniformity, besides
giving greater scope to mercantile operations, and ex-
tending our traffic with some of our most opulent neigh
hours, removed a great source of embarrassment and
litigation ; at the same time it detracted considerably
from that selfish character which had beers believed on
the continent, and not without considerable reason, to be
the animating principle of our commercial system.
The distinction between enumerated and non enume-
rated articles was still kept up under the new regula-
tions; but, instead of confining the importation of the
former into the United Kingdom—either to British
ships, or ships belonging to the country or place where
the goods were produced, or from which they were
originally exported—the new regulations permitted that
they might be imported either in British ships or the
ships of the country of which the goods are the pro-
duce, or in ships of the country or place from which
they are imported into England. Under the old law,
when a number of articles, the product of different
countries, but all of them suitable for importation into
England, were found in a foreign port, they could not
be ,imported except in a British ship, or separately in
ships belonging to the different countries whose pro-
duce they were. This was obviously a very great
hardship on the foreigner, without being of any real
advantage to the shipowners. When the foreign mer-
chant had vessels of his own, it was not very probable
that he would permit them to remain unoccupied, and
freight a British vessel; and there were very few ports
of any importance in which foreign bottoms might not
be found, in which the articles could be legally im
ported.

--
Besides the restrictive regulations already alluded to,
it had been a part of our policy to encourage the em-
ployment of our shipping by impo,ing higher duties on,
commodities imported into our harbours in foreign ves-
sels than were imposed on them when imported in British
vessels, and it had also been customary to charge foreign
vessels with higher port and lighthouse duties. This
system was always loudly complained of by foreigners ;
but we had little difficulty in maintaining it, so long as
the state of our manufactures enabled us to disregard
the retaliatory measure: of other powers. But the ex.
traordinary increase that took place since the com-
mencement of the late war in our manufactories for
foreign consumption, and the necessity under which we
ware in consequence placed of conciliating our cus-
tomers abroad, led to the adoption of the reciprocity sys-
tem. This system was first introduced into the trade
with the united States. After the North American Co-
lonies had succeeded in establishing their independence,
they set about framing a code of navigation laws on
the model of those of this country. Among other regu-
lations of a restrictive character it was enacted that all fo •
reign vessels trading to the United states should pay half a
dollar, which was afterwards raised to a dollar per ton duty
beyond what was paid by American ships, and further that
goods imported in foreign vessels should pay a duty of 10
per cent., over and above what was payable on the same
description of goods imported in American vessels. The
law was avowedly directed against the navigation laws
of Great Britain, though, as it was bottomed upon the
very same principles as our navigation laws, we could
not openly complain of its operation. Various devices
were fallen upon to counteract the navigation system of
the Americans, but they all failed in their object. In
consequence, the conviction of the necessity of making
concessions gamed ground progressively ; and it was
ultimately fixed by the commercial treaty agreed upon
between Great Britain and the United States in 1815,
that in tuture equal charges should be imposed on the
ships of either country in the ports of the other, and
that equal duties should be laid upon all articles the pro
duce of the one country imported into the other, whether
such importation were effected in the ships of the one or
the other. The principle of the reciprocity system having
been thus conceded in the case of the intercourse with
the United States, whose commercial marine is second
only to that of Great Britain, it was not possible to re-
fuse actitteon the same principle in the case of such
other European countries as might choose to admit our
ships into their ports on a footing of equality. Accord-
ingly, after more protracted diplomatic negotiations, a
commercial treaty, based on the reciprocity system, was
made with Prussia, Denmark, and Sweden. On that
occasion (12th of May, 1826) Mr. Huskisson, in his
speech, said—

•" By others, it may be said your duty was to retaliate
by increasing your own port charges, and discriminating
duties on British shipping. I have already stated gene-
rally my reasons against the policy of this latter course.
We were not prepared to begin a system of commercial
hostility, which, if followed up on both sides to its legi-
timate consequences, could only tend to reciprocal pros-
titution. In this state of things, more prudently, as I
contend, we entered upon an amicable negotiation with
the Prussian Government, upon the principle of our
treaty with the United States—that of abolishing on
both sides all discriminating duties on the ships and
goods of the respective countries in the ports of the
other."

MARYLEBONE VESTRY.

THE REGENT'S CANAL RAILWAY.—At the Maryle-
bone Vestry, on Saturd-ty, the committ,e appointed to
opp,,se the formation of tlr.s railway brought up their
r. port, by which it was stated that the property in
Marylebone tl be tunnelled under and removed, would
amount to 3,8891, and the rental of the property im-
me'iately affected by the proposed railway amounted to
6.4001, hes:des the injury that would be done to the
chapel in Aberdeen-place. The-report also contained a
statement that a deputation, con,isting of Crown tenants
an.l others. waited upon the Hight Honourable Lord
Morpeth, and his Lord•hip, after hearing the various
complaints, informed the deputation that he would con-
sider the application, both legally and morally, and then
decide upon the principles of justice. The following
communication was read from Mr. Edwin Landscer

Mv Lords and Gi ntleire.;,—Having been informed
that the projected railway from Euston-square to Pad-
dington has your attention, I beg respect-
fliiiyttito chimed
representto you the injury which I am
likely to sustain if such project should be carried
into eti,et. Tho house in which I reside was built
by my-elf at a great expense, and as my professiona
pursuits require studious and other accommociation not
to be met with in ordinary houses, no compensation which
a railway company will he likely to give would be an
equivalent for the loss I should sustain in the event of a
railway, or any other nuisance, obliging me to quit the
neighbuurhood. I selected this locality for my residence
on account of the quiet retirement which it affords, and
which is to me of great importance. According to the
plan contemplated I understand that the opening of a
tunnel will he at the bottom of my garden, and I shall
be continually annoyed by the noise of the engine and
railway whistle, besides losing a portion of my garden,
and a plantation now forming the boundary of my pre-
mises. I fully anticipate that this annoyance would
oblige me to leave the neighbourhood, in which case I
should be under the necessity of building myself another
house, an undertaking which would involve a very great
expense, as well as a serious sacrifice of time. My bro-
ther, Mr. Thomas Landseer, who resides in Cunning-
ham-place, will also be compelled to leave his premises,
on which he has built a studio at a considerable expense,
as the proposed railway, if constructed, will pass under
his house, which it will destroy. I, therefore, on his
behalf, as well as on my own, make this appeal to the
vestry in support of the opposition to the proposed
railway.—l have the honour to be, my Lords and Gen-
tlemen, your obedient humble servant,

E. LANDSEER.
After a few words from Sir P. LAURIE and others, the
report was put and carried.

BILL FOR TEMPORARY RELIEF

OF DESTITUTE PERSONS IN IRELAND.
This Bill, which will be discnssed in the Rouse of
Commons this evening, contains the following clauses,
viz.:--That certain Commissioners shall be appointed
by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to be called Relief
Commissioners, to superintend the execution of the Act;
that Relief Committees, and Finance Committees, shall
also be appointed in the electoral divisions of unions to
be formed for the relief of the poor, and that such com-
mittees shall appoint officers for the execution of their
orders ; that in every union the several relief commit-
tees shall make out lists of persons entitled to relief
under the Act, according to the directions to be issued
by the Relief Commissioners, with an estimate of the
sum which shall appear to them to be required ; that
the Finance Committee shall examine such lists, and shall
report the amount to the Lord-Lieutenant, who shall,
thereupon, issue a warrant for the amount thereof to
the guardians of the poor, requiring them to
pay the same out of the moneys to be col-
lected under the Poor-law Act ; and further, that
it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of her Majesty's
Treasury to advance from time to time, before the Ist
of October, out of the Consolidated Fund, any sums of
money by way of imprest, to the Relief Commissioners,
for the execution of the Act, to be applied by them by
way of loan on the security of the rates, provided for
the purpose of the Act : all such sums to be repaid to
the Consolidated Fund in such manner as the Treasury
may direct out of the rates to be levied in the union ;
and that on the application of the Relief Commissioners,
the Commissioners of the Treasury may issue from time
to time out of the Consolidated Fund any sums of
money in hid of the rates to be made under the Act, or
of voluntary contributions ; and all moneys so granted
shall be paid over to the finance committee of the union,
to be applied and accounted for by them, in like manner
as the moneys paid pursuant to any warrant as afore-
said. That no person to be appointed under this Act
shall be concerned in applying for his own benefit any
of the provisions to be distributed under the Act ; and
that no warrants, grants, or loans under the Act shall
be made by the Commissioners of the Treasury, in aid
of any rates to be levied under the Act after the Ist of
October, in this year.

With respect to the general policy of the navigation
laws, Adam Smith, in his " Wealth of Nations," vol. ii.
p. 29, says—
" When the Act of Navigation was made, though
England and Holland were not actually at war, the
most violent animosity subsisted between the two
nations. It had begun during the Government of the
long Parliament, which first framed the Act, and it
brake out soon after the in Dutch wars, during that of the
Protector and Charles 11. It is not impossible, there-
fore, that some of the regulations of this famous Act
may have proceeded from national animosity. They are
as wise, however, as if they had been all dictated by the
most deliberate wisdom. National animosity at that
particular time arrived at the same object which the
most deliberate wisdom would have recommended, the
commerce
eAe,c
or
roftonatvhigaat
diminution of the naval power of Holland, the only
powerl England.
could have endangered the security of
foregigann
tioopnuliesncnenwt
from it. * * * *
much more favourablehich c
an arise t o
As defence, however, is of
re importance than opulence,
the e Act of navi-
gation is perhaps the wisest of e,h
of England." all the commercial regu-
lations

Lord Howden left London for Paris on Friday
evening. The, object of his Lordship's visit to the French
metropolis is to receive the final assent of the Cabinet of the
Tuileries to the modifications which may be necessary to ter-
minate, satisfactorily to all parties, the hostilities on the
River Plate. Lord Howden'a departure for South America,
as British Minister at the Court of Brazil, was deemed a fit-
ting opportunity for the two Governments, acting in concert,
to arm him with powers and instructions to bring the quar-
rels of the belligerent republics to a peaceful adjustment.
HORRIBLE BARBARITIES AT AM AFRICAN FUNE-
RAL—We have been politely favoured with the following by
a gentleman who gives his name and address :—"ln a commu-
nication which I received from the Rev. J. Clarke, one of the
baptist missionaries at Bimbia, Western Africa, he states the
following awful fact, occasioned by a most horrid custom,
that of the immolation of a number of hapless victims on the
death of a royal personage, still prevailing in those parts.
The letter is dated October 26th, 1846. He writes—" At
Calabar there has been a fearful sacrifice of more than 100
persons for a son of the late king. The poor creature danced
Egbo all the day, drank mimby or palm wine in large quan-
tities, and died the same night. It is supposed he was poi-
soned. This may be the case, or it may not ;we cannot tell.
The aged mother cried out in African frenzy, that she had
lost her last child, and now had none to whom to leave
her property, and plenty of slaves must therefore be sacri-
ficed. Those at market, and all who heard in time, ran into
the bush, and will remain there until the sacrifices cease,
that is, as to their personal liabilities to their doom. This
will be rather mere than one year. The sacrifice took place!
Three boles were dug in a house. The corpse was put into
the first, with a number of young women; into the second
the slaves were put ; and into the third the slaughtered
Creoles, or town-born people. The proportion as stated to
us, for these holes, was 30 female slaves, 40 male slaves, and
29 Creoles. Much was done by Mr. Waddell the missionary
Mr. Edgerly, and also by Captain Millbourne, of the Dove,
to try to persuade KingF Eyamba to prevent the sacrifice, but
it could not be done."—LiverpoolMercury.
ESCAPE OF A CONVICT FROM SPRINGFIELD GAOL.
—On Sunday last Henry Wells, who was tried at the last
general quarter sessions for this county, and convicted of pig
stealing, contrived to make his escape from the above prison.
He had been sentenced to seven years' transportation, and
was accordingly placed in a yard with other prisoners of his
class. As we are informed, upon the mustering of the pri-
soners to attend the chapel in the afternoon of the above day,
Wells, upon some pretence, lingered behind the rest, and in
less than half an hour after he was missed altogether. It
is supposed that having scaled a high-boarded partition
dividing the portion of the prison in use from that part
where the new buildings are going on, he got clear off by
means of some of the materials employed on the works. Upon
the discovery being made the intelligence was immediately
transmitted by the telegraph to London and Colchester, and
numerous police-constables and other officers were dispatched
in pursuit in every quarter of the neighbourhood. The first
intelligence of the locality of the fugitive was gained on
Monday morning, when the officer sent to East Hanningfield,
where his friends resided, and was informed that he had been
in the neighbourhood the night before, and had exchanged
his clothes, which were subsequently found tied up AS a
parcel, and directed to one of the wardens of the prison, in
the possession of Thomas Bacon, who had been requested to
deliver it to the carrier, but Bacon asserts he did not know
the party by whom they were delivered. Since that time
no tidings have been heard of him, although the most active
exertions have been made, officers having been sent as far as
Kent, in the expectation that the fugitive had taken shelter
at a relations in that county.—Essex Standard.
TUE POSES PLASTIQUES IN PARIS. Keller, the
German posture-master, with his family and troop, are at
Paris. They have been giving, at a house in the Rue
Neuve de Luxembourg (No. 13) a series of representations
of so equivocal a character as to compel the police to prohibit
their continuance.

On Friday last a duel with pistols was fought in
the valley of Grenet, near Endoume (Bouche-du-Rhone),
between the Count de Schlippenbach, Chamberlain to the
King of Prussia, and Count S. Theotoky, one of the house-
hold of the King of Greece. A brace of pistols having been
fired by each party without effect, the seconds interposed and
brought about a reconciliation. The dispute arose in Italy,
but the strict laws against duelling in that country prevented
the meeting there. The police of Mar,eilles had gained in-
formation of what was about to take place, and tried to pre-
vent it ; but its vigilance was evaded.—Paris paper.
A horrible suicide took place last week at Du-
nieres, in the Haute-Loire. A workman at a saw-mill, in
a temporary fit of insanity, placed his arm under one of
the saws, by which it was separated, and then put his head
to the instrument. He was just expiring when he was
discovered.

REPRESENTATION OF BRIDGWATER.—It is currently
reported here that our present Tory Members (Messrs. Broad-
wood and Foreman) do net intend to offer themselves as
candidates for Bridgwater at the next general election. The
Liberal cause is progressing here. Our recent municipal
election to wit. Two free-traders are sure to be returned,
and these, it is expected, will be Mr. C. K. K. Tynte and Mr.
W. Browne.—Somerset County Gazette.
THE AGRICULTURAL LADOURERS.—We are re-
minded by an esteemed friend, of the sufferings of the agri-
cultural labourers of this county, many of whom are pa-
tiently enduring the severest pangs of want. Their wages
are the same now, with wheat at ten shillings a bushel, as
when wheat was five and sixpence, and now they have no
potatoes to resort to. It would be idle to call on the pro-
tectionists to interpose between the labourers and the high
prices which have abridged their food so terribly. But as
they have always maintained, that the rate of wages de-
pended on the price of food, they ought now to use their in-
dividual exertions with the farmers--if not to prove the
truth of their theories, at least to succour the suffering poor.
Western Times.

BENINGTON.—On Thursday evening the 21st inst.
(about four o'clock), a wheat stack on the farm of Mr. Hol-
land, containing about 20 quarters, was fired, and almost the
whole burnt; plenty of assistance was at hand, and no other
damage was done. It is believed to have been caused by an
incendiary.—Stamford Mercury.

DISEASE AMONG CATTLE. lokn
nogftolanteFieT
ease, generally known by the name onf ~Bnfilark tnQuaatrotreyr,,,dhisa-s
, near Appleby. During
amongst the young stock of
beenlur. Georgem a ki n gB sr an dm , ho ma vLo
oc
the last fortnight eight valuable yearly heifers have died
from the effects of it. The animals, on being seized with
pldh,i which
nattacksn tthheeni
ri
iNi-ee suddenly, become
refuse their food,
sSwellings appear
on diflerent parts of the body,
ltaihns etdl ecasopsnpal epnaldar moveitnstt)tu' with great
being pressed with
the finger, made a crackling noise which,
ficahnd thed' disease in gene.
ral proves fatal in about ten hours after the first symptoms
have shown themselves.— Carlisle Journal.
TREMENDOUS RUN OF GROUND AT BALLESWID
DEN.—A large run of ground took place at the above mine
largest
that Friday night last ; in extent it is, perhaps, the
that ever occurred in this neighbourhood. On the surface,it
resembles the effects of an earthquake; in length, it is about
45 fathoms; in width, varying from 7to 10 fathoms; and in
depth or height, from 2 to 3 fathoms. Fortunately the
agents had long foreseen that it must fall away, and every
precaution was taken to prevent loss of life, and also to se-
cure the mine itself from danger. In these, they have been
eminently successful—not a single individuaal has been in-
jured (although many were frightened at the noise, and the
current of air rushing through the levels and shafts in other
parts of the mine)—and the mine has not received the
smallest amount of damage. The agents, and the miners
themselves are rejoiced that it has occurred, as they have not
been stopped from their occupation one hour; and it is
also satisfactory to the workmen, that, by following the
advice and recommendation of the agents, not one of them
has sustained the slightest casualty.—Penzance Gazette.
THE NEW BISHOPS.—The Bishop 3, at their recent
meeting, accepted Lord John Russell's proposal to have four
new Bishops created, without seats in Parliament, but to
succeed to seats as vacancies occur, and the four junior
Bishops to be always without seats. The Bishops accepted
this in preference to a new Bishop of Manchester with a seat.
Thus the number of spiritual Peers will not be increased.—
. Church and State Gazette.

TILE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY l, 1847.