The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-10 00:00:00

deterioration whicharticlesof manufacture suffered in this

country arose from the present state of the laiv.
Another gentleman, Mr. Applegarth, stated that he
was offered designs by Sir R. Smirke for a new class
of calicoes for the interior decorations of rooms, but on
calculating the cost, anal taking into consideration the
term of copyright, he found he should lose by the spe-
culation, and was obliged to decline them. On another
occasion, he states that Sir David Wilkie, on his return
from Italy, having been struck with the beauty of the
interior decoration of the houses in Italy, gave him a

series of designs in imitation of them, but for the same
reasons as in the former instance he w..s obliged to
return them. We complain of the low state of arts
in this country ; but here were three instances in
which the imperfect state of the law had prevented
their improvement. He had already spoken of the ad-
vantages which he expected to derive from the exten-
sio❑ of copyright. He was (pito aware of the argu-
ments by which he might be met, and could only say
that when they were brought forward he should be quite
pnzpared to grapple with them ; and in consequence of
recent circumstances he was now in a better po3ition to
do so than when the question was last before the House.
One of the chief objections was the timidity on the part
of several Member 3 of the Committee lest the exten-

sion of the copyright, by giving increased value to de-
sign, should lead to increased litigation as to ttlat
was original design and what was not ; but as
this d;dieulty existed under the present law, towards the

close of the Committee this and other arguments were
successively abandoned, and towards the close of its last
sitting most of the, Members were content to concentrate
their opposition on one point, namely, that if for twelve-

months they prevented calico printers in this country from
copying one another's designs, and had no means of pre-
venting a foreign calico printer from copying the designs,
,eve should have English designs copied abroad an sent
into tha market in competition to England. The impos-

sibility of this was manifest from three circum-
stances. In the lrst place, our designs must be
better than their own, and he belicred tint no

person would say that the designs of England were not
in every respect inferior to those of France; but even sup-
posing tl.at is point of execution, effect, and elegance, the
designs of England were equal to those of France, there
would still be another consideration, viz., would they be
saleable in the English market. Every ono knew that
tha taste of England in these particulars was different to
the taste of Prussia and France. The fact was, that style

was S 9 different that the prints of one country would he

quite useless in others if the copyright were open to them.
And thirdly, even supposing that these designs were suit-

ablJ to the foreign market and taste, there ;till remained
the important cons deration that it was impossible they could
. .

enter into full competition with England unless the
printers in those countries could produce them cheaper.
An assertion was mate in the Committee that Belgium
could produce printed calicoes, in competition with those
of England, at 20 to 25 per cent. cheaper than England.
lie had recently visited that country, and he had documents

to prove that, so far from this being the case, in every in-
stance they were 50 per cent. dearer than ours ; and more-
over, if this as,ertisn were true, how came it that they put
prohibitory duties on our g' ode ?—( Hear, hear, hear.) lirt
felt much indebted to the Ibuse for its patience in
listening to him. He felt this to be a most

important subject, connected with a most important
branch of trade. It was impossible that any country could
compete with England, so long as England commanded
the supply of •300 millions of our own subjects. If Eng-
land were true to herself and her own interests, she must
retain the superiority she at present enjoyed; and if, in
addition to this, she would give encouragement to artists,
she would inerc:sse that superiority, both in taste and in
cheapness of production, and render it morally impossible
for any other nation to enter into successful competition
with her. For these reasons he trusted the House would
assent to the prayer of the petitioners, who were so
largely connected with the trade of this country, and
assent to this proposition, which, without doing injury to
any, would confer great benefit on all. He therefore moved
resolutions to enable him to bring in a Bill to amend
the Laws affecting the C,pyright of Dcsigns._( Hear.)
Mr. O'CONNELL seconded the motion.

Mr. M. PH EL LIPS said, that when this question was
brought before the House last Session, he had felt it to be
his duty not to oppose any inquiry into the subject, be-
cause at that time he hid not full confidence in the opi.
nion he entertained as to the impolicy of an extension of
the copyright of design. But he was bound to Say
that, having paid considerable attention to tho evi-

dence produced before the Committee, he now
felt it to be his duty to oppose the motion, as he
Fad now a firm conviction decidedly hostile to the exten-

sioa of copyright of designs. He approached this sub-
ject without the least possible bias, as must be obvious to
the House, connected, as he was, with so large a portion
of this trade, that he could form no opinion on which he
could agree with the whole of them, and that whatever
opinion he formed he must uffand a large portion of his
constituents. He was therefore opposed on principle to
this extension, but he begged to premise a few observa-
tions, although it was not his intention to take that
step in opposition to the proposed Bill of his
Honourable Friend. He was, ho confessed one
of those who did not think so lightly as his Hon.
Friend respecting that " bugbear" of foreign competition
on which he had enlarged. His Hon. Friend had enjoyed
au opportunity which few other Members of the Committee
had dune, of recently visiting the Continent, He much
wished that it had fallen to his lot to hare effected a similar
journey ; but inasmuch as he had to deal with the evidence
alone given before that House, he was unable to take ad-
vantage of that further information which his Hon. Friend
possessed. It was the evidence taken before the Com-
mittee on which the public formed their opinion,
and, unless the question was again referred to
a Committee, he was bound to abide by those
opinions be had formed from reading that evidence.
He must say he did not think it safe for us to assume
that the degree of competition to which we found British
manufactures now exposed, was the same as that to which
they would be exposed five, or ten, or fifti en years to
come.—( Hear, hear)—for he would ask whether it was
the same now as it was fifteen years ago ? The degree of
competition in every branch of industry was now far greater,
wider, and more extensive than could have possibly been
imagined at the period he had named. Ha therefore
thought it was not a safe argument to make ute of with
regard to the prospective industry of this country, that
because competition did not now bear us down in neutral
markets, it would be safe to speculate on the present state
of things. His Hon. Friend had assumed that the French
were superior in designs to the English. rie believed ho
must grant this to be the case, but if the extension of the
period of the copyright of designs had a tendency to
induce Englishmen abroad to copy these articles, the
foreigner must still produce these articles at cheaper cost
to put them in competition to the original design, conferred
for a longer period than the present. Then with respect
to protection to these designs, it appeared to him that the
calico trade of this country was so diversified, and divided
into so many interests, that no one rule could be mede ap-
plicable to all. He bad a strong impression on his own
mind, that undoubtedly much litigation would arise ; and
when he looked to the existing law, which bad existed
fifty years, and looked at the trade which had sprung up
after it, he was inclined to say that they should not intro-
duce any fresh system that might lead to litigation as to
what was or was not original design. He thought tha
consumer was a party who ought not to be lost sight of
in this or any other matter. And if this extension
of copyright had a tendency, as he believed it had,
to increase the cost to the consumer, he thought, on this
ground, as a restriction of the supply of articles of every
day consumption, it ought not to be sanctioned. With
respect to Mr. Applegarth, and the designs offered to
him by eminent academicians, this appeared to him to be
an exception to the general rule. and to have no reference
whatever to the supply of those articles worn by the
working classes themselves, and which formed the subject
of suppy to the great mass of population in this and
other countries. With reference to the home traders
being deterred from making purchases, three months
beforehand, because they had not the protection of copy.
right, he thought there was little ground for apprehension
of that kind, as he did not believe they would purchase be-
forehand, at so long a period as three months, when there
was a constant succession of new patterns. It, moreover,
appeared to him to be inconsistent in those who pro-
fessed to seek a constant succession of new patterns, to
seek at the same time an extension of copyright. He
remembered in the Committee there was a beautiful
design laid on the table, which he could not help
admiring, as well for its design as its execu-
tion ; and he inquired what had been the time
and trouble, and the cost of its production ; and he
was told that the producer had spent three months
in preparing the design. Of course, be thought that
where there was so much labour and expense, a consider-
able number was produced, and he asked the number of
pieces, but the answer was—" Sr, I had rather not talk of
the number of piec es, but of the number of dresses, which
was limited to 50." New, if the remuneration on the sale
of 50 dresses was sufficient to discharge the expense of
production, how could he want an extension of copyright,
when, if he did not sell the articles in the first three
months, it was impossible he could have any sale for it.
There was great variety of opinion on this subject,
and he did not feel inclined to legislate on a sub-
ject of such importance upon such conflicting opinions.
With respect to foreign orders it was well known in the
trade it was of very little importance whether the patterns
were new or not. He would not oppose the introduction
of the Bill, but he would take opportunities of discussing
its details in the course of its further progress.
Mr. L ABOUC HE RE did not intend to oppose the
motion, hut he was desirous of stating that Lord Syden-
ham (Mr. Poulctt Thomson) protested against giving the
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ureronjection of those conditions, they were excluded
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the protection of
conflicting evidence
in
He
( Mr. Labouchere) in reading the Report of the
Committee
favour of and against the prinocrikp,,l,ehlocthtchhisidiTld.erelnideefdoutnhde
:n.try,Htour,niesdhodonh
that the Lancashire iptnhatetetrecerosnut
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end to the evil which the Bill was intended to remedy,
without doing a greater injustice to our own designers, and
interfering enormously with our foreign trade. He would
give the Bill the fullest consideration, and if the principle
of registration could be carried out in a practicable
manner, he would certainly support it to the utmost
of his power. On the whole, he thought that the
most prudent course would be to extend the copyright
from three months to six, but he would wait until
he saw the Bill before he gave a decided opinion on its
merits,llyto state and on
his views.onthesecond reading ho would be prepared
fu
ihooou gbetweenthat
ifnr i tmwa
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r.
manufacturers consisted in
othat icotton theC pi3r ii:nmcQidptjat ih
co°o reLf TopNireeti igtt
cheapness and quality, and that design bad no share in
sthi2eQiodmpbeetiatiffieoonr,itd was highly important that protection
tothehighest kind of manufactures,