The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-18 00:00:00

SALFORD TOWN'S MEETING.

IMPORT DUTIES.

A requisition to the Boroughreeve and Constables of
Salford, signed by nearly forty of the principal rate-pay-
ers, manufacturing and commercial houses connected with
Salford, was last week presented to those authorities, re-
questirg them to convene a public meeting, " to take into
consideration the Parliamentary Report upon the Import
Duties of the United Kingdom, with their prejudicial effect
upon the industry of the country, and to petition the Le-
gisliture for their revision and repeal." In compliance
eith this requisition the Boroughreeve and Constables
appointed a public meeting of the inhabitants of Salford,
on Monday last, in the large room of the Town Hall,
Chapel-street.
Amongst the gentlemen present we observed Messrs
William Garnett, Holland Hoole, Thomasß
azeley,TC.harles
Tysoe, and John Kay, Constables ; E. Connell,
Bur-
gess, G. P. Livingston, J. B. Wanklyn, Samuel Eve-
leigh, Samuel Satterthwaite, S. P. Robinson, Robert
Gardner, Rupert Ingleby, James Leeming, William Har-
vey, and other gentlemen. On the motion of Mr. Gar-
nett, seconded by Mr. T. Bazley, G. H. Ball, Esq , the
Boroughreeve, was called to the chair. The parties pre.
sent were highly respectable commercial men, of all shades
of political opinion and of local politics.
The CIIAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, read the
requisition and advertisement convening the meeting, and
said, he regarded the subject which had assembled them
as of the greatest importance, not merely in the borough,
but throughout the United Kingdom. Those gentlemen,
who were connected with the export trade, and were lo-
cally denominated " shippers," probably possessed a more
intimate knowledge of the subject than many other in.
habitants ; and several of these gentlemen, whom he was
glad to see present, would explain their views on this im-
portant question. Certain it was, that not a man in these
realms but would be benefited by the revision of these
laws.--( Applause.) The voluminous Repert of the Com-
mittee of the House of Commons contained a mass of evi-
dence so conclusive on this question, that he hoped every
one, who had not read that Report, would do so imme-
diately. It was about to be printed in a cheap form, so
so that even the poor might have an opportunity of study-
ing it, and applying its disclosures personally to them-
selve i,—( Applause.)
Mr. J. 13. WANKLYN, in moving the first resolution,
said he considered this to he one of the most important
subjects that could occupy the attention of parties con-
nected with commerce. He would, therefore, offer a few
remarks which had occurred to him in the course of some
years' practical knowledge of the subject in the capacity of
a British merchant—whose object must be to obtain the
greatest facility to the import of foreign products in re-
turn for the manufactures of this country.— (Hear, and ap-
plause.) Hence he thought it self-evident, that a British
merchant must be in principle and practice a strong-sup-
porter of the principles of free trade.—( Hear.) hose
principles could not be better put than by supposing that
an individual wanting to get rid of a surplus product, takes
it to a foreign market, and wishes to bring back from thence
the produce of that country, to his own, or elsewhere, as he
may think best. But the principles of free trade, grounded
on a basis of this kied, it was impossible, Li the pre-
sent state of society throughout the world, to carry out
in their perfect integrity, Many vast and conflating in-
terests had grown up, in the course of years, to jr.went
the perfect principles of free trade; and he would
merely allude to those which had sprung up during the
long wars in which we were engaged with the Continent.
That war entailed upon us an enormous debt, which,
thanks to the energies of this country, we were enabled to
bear—and, he was satisfied, we lways should be ; and
the expenses of that war had led to our present system of
taxes, which bad been enlergei from time to time as the
debt increased. Consequently, after a peace for the last
twenty-five years, we had a scale of custom duties, of the
most incongruous character, upon tetween I,looand 1,200
a titles ; and cf the gross amount of revenue they pro.
duced, about 23 mill ears sterling, 11 articles out of the
1,152 produced no less an amount than 21,500 0001., and
the r ereairiag 1,141 produced only one million and a half.
_.( Hear, hear.) It was self evident, therefore, that the
duties on this great number of articles, which produced
so little to the revenue, ought at once tr be swept
away, as the collection of revenue thereon must cost
more than the net amount coliected.—( Hear, hear.) He
found that our population, which we were toll was over-
' burthened with taxation, paid as duty for luxuries, as its
considered spirits, wine, and tobacco, ran less than eight
millions sterling per annum. He admitted that a great
number of our working men did not possess the comforts
we wished them to have ; but the reduction of the duties
on a number of these articles, and the general revision cf
our tariff:would enable us to give the working el :sacs full
ea-plot-merit, and to get foreign produce at a reasonable
rete.—( Applause.) He would merely set sin such a duty
as would pay the revenue, and ensure tl.e safety cf the
State ; while, on the othe.. hand, he would introduce such
an amount of foreign pro lusts as would enable the poor
man to get a full reward for his labour. He believed one
great barrier to any alteration in our customs duties, had
been created on the one hand, by the colonial interests, on
the other by what were called the interests of humanity
and p! ilanthropy in this country. Ti.e colonial or West
India interests were so jealous, that they had used every
means in their power to prevent the leg sleture ado i tin;;
any articles which the West Indies produce, from other
countries, except at rraideitory duties. The attention of
the legislature Lad been drawn to this :natter, and, last
week, Air. Labouchere had made a mein with a v.ee to
remove many of the chat :cies existing i ► the way of a re
vision of our customs duties, viz.—to aglow the inhabitants
of the West ladies tr import salt fish, staves, end other
articles required for the produce and export of sugar and
care-, from the beat and cheap t markets in tire world.
The West Indians, having obtained this prhilege, surely
could not refuse us a similar one—that cf going for our
sugar and coffee to the cheapest markets.—( Hear.) A
circumstance mentioned by Mr Laboucl.e. e showed the
necessity of pe.lplegctling enla-ged ideas on these sub-
jects. In 1782, our commercial policy was so narrowed,
that we would not allow any country, nut oven
a portion of our own colonies (and Ireland was then
called a colony of England), to have any commercial
intercourse with the West Indies. But it pleased the
Legislature of that• day, finding that Ireland could send
salted provisions cheap to the We t to allow ves-
sels ei,h such cargoes to clear out in Ireland, direr t for
the West Indies. This frightened tire people of England
so much, that petitions were got up and very numerously
signed, praying that this indulgence should not be snowed
to Ireland; adding, that. if it were, the port of Liverpool
woul I again be reduced to its pristine insignificance.—
( Hear.) Ireland was ailawed to export to the West In-
dies, and what was the state of Liverpool now? He had
no doubt that, so far from a revision of the to ill militating
against our colonial interests, the West Indians would, in
a few years, thank us for extendisg our commerce. As
to the philanthropic interest, who were determined, as
far as their influence went, to oppose the import or
consumption, in this country, of the produce of slave
labour, while their principles lime to be admire], we
should not lose sight of the practical effects cf these
principle-. The consequence was, that by the con-
junction of the West India and the pirilantrophic int --
rests, the English labourer was prevented obtaining his
coffee, sugar, &e., at the prices at which be could get
them, if allowed to go to the cheapest markets.--( Hear.)
Why, we had allowe I the slave-grown cotton of the
United States to come into this country, in competition
with that from the East Indies, Brczil, and the Mediter-
raee an ; yet no one ever said, " We won't use Amer iean
cotton, because it is the produce of slave labour." Yet
go a few miles further, to the Island of Cuba, and there,
though th re was an overwhelaing quantity of sugar and
coffee, we were told that those a doles must not be
brought to England, because they were the produce of
slave labous. Why, ot'rer na ions rniA ht as well say to us,
tl.ey had, herd se much of the cruelties real el in our
mills, of the injuries inflicted on those who work in them,
that our manufact wi:s were Juggernauts which swept away
our population, destroying their constitutions, and that roc-
' body could live in a cotton mall; and that, the:dorm on re-
count of these horriele etrocities, our yarns and manufac-
tured goods should not be introduced into other countries.
But, leaving that part of the subject, 1 c would come to
the consumption of stages in this country. TLis. article
stood at the head of our customs duties, producing, in
1840, a duty of 4,800,C0a/ He would show reduc-
tionsesi'anocwrehaowdatheeor:
of the duty would hie. ease, as it _ 2
aumption of sugar. Taking the average from 1814 to 1?1 5,
the annual consumption of sugar in this country had br on
somctlrirg less than 160,000 tons. From 1826 to 1831.
the consumption had increased to 207,000 tons per an-
num; and, since 1831, in consequeece. of this large con-
sumption overtaking the production of:the West Indies, it
had reached its maximum ; we had never exceeded an
import of 207,000 tons, though our populaii,n had greatly
increased, and our capacity and inclination to use sugar
had correspondingly increased. In 1340, the consump-
tion of sugar was only 170,000 tors—offering a striking
contrast to the consumption of cotton, which had gone
on increasing, and, he trusted, would still incr. a-e.
The price of sugar rjie as the supply from the West
Indies became limited, and then the consumpti in
diminished. If sugar could be brought here from the
cheapest markets, the consumption would probably to
near 300,000 tons at this moment ; while this increased
demand would open markets t ) an increased consumption
of our manufactures.—( Applause.) He might be tell
that Government was not sufficiently alive to the interests
of the people, or they would never have &lowed the con-
sumption to retrograde front 200,000 to 170,000 tons ;
but we knew that the conflicting interests to which
be had alluded, prevented Government doing what
they would—prevented them from taking up and dis:
posing of these questions on their own arerits.—(qetahV,
Some well-meauing people might say this she but
he
the country was overburthenedanviditebae
taleu;lfl like to
raid it showed no such thing,
ace an other country using as muchlns
(notwith-
standing her taxation) as 14:neland. sugar
people were said to li,e so
fc.hrea
luxury, and with a populate novas
onlv 100,000 tonc., or
annual consumption of susguarnrn _
.n
Ipargaenrd ttrhorlanini glens,
r swe, vh
yee
England. The whole
just half the amount eicany
as I r
no more than 375,000 tons
consumption of Europe
Ifnrodmia
ofwe suu,geda r 2;
osooxitohoantoonus.pofl6obOis,o:,oastornios opfrosoufgoarf consumed,
übme
iendg,
ol vBeorlb ut
or t11721e0c,1 i rthe
iteavxeadt i ot
hn
0.
grow
onoeidt
foi 1,000113
daTuathsyeaonn:txhiartyt facaWodffeetseht'e c n
coffee was
apserrolgba.rdoWe were. then
reachedvery small
c.onslutmwpetniton
on
nroantt
consutreherwsa;s
s. per
tsounnsapticAn wouats
leBo2nisitdheereddutygrvie;ts writ:de
1,000 t 3 between 2,0
which hal the effect
000 f inanered
a3s,loaogo thoen
that duty till the annual .
year consumpti on was about 3,700
duty
tons, in 1825. In thatthewas again reduced
to 6d. a lb., or one-half the r
former
amount, and he wished
that Government would take that as a guide by which
then gradually iacreadtices
ulow reached its 'Wal-
. The consttp-
ion cOff
orthlel,odouotietosnos,naontdheirt
Ilaarincreased from 3,700 to
too
oo
Iroe
,douocoe
:Le the West Indies could not
mu—m ,produce more • and
,
this increased demand and limit
tl supply had raised
the price from eas. to 60s• the
cwt to about 120'.,
to anxious were the people of this * country to have coffee.
The West Indies could not produce enough, and we had
gone to the Ea_t Indies fur
it; and Government bad beau