The Sun.
London, England, 1840-05-18 00:00:00

EVEN INCA EDITION .

SUGAR TRADE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Having read with much satisfaction the va-
rious remarks in The Sun upon the subject of the sugar
trade, and having reason to believe the time is arrived to
bring the evils complained of before Government with
effect, the Refiners and Grocers of this City deputed
two of their body to carry up the inclosed Memorial to
the Board of Trade, and from the disposition manifested
to afford relief by the admission of foreign sugars at a
modified duty for home consumption, as well as the
urgency of the case,—from the prospect of a still further
decrease in our supply from the West Indies,—we are
now endeavouring, by petitions and otherwise, to make
a forcible appeal for redress, and should you deem it of
siafficient importance to assist us, by printing our memo-
rial in your valuable and widely circulating paper, it
would thereby be more generally effective, and probably
the means of procuring a successful result ; and you will
greatly oblige, Sir, your most obedient servant,

JOHN VINING, Chairman
to the Committee of the Sugar Trade,
Bristol, May 15, 1840.

COPY OF A MEMORIAL TO THE HO-
NOURABLE THE BOARD OF TRADE.
" The humble petition of the undersigned Sugar Re-
finers, Grocers, and others, inhabitants of the city
of Bristol, showeth,
" That the present supply of British Plantation
sugar (and of other colonial produce) is inadequate to
meet the rapidly increasing demand for home consump-
tion, when obtainable at a moderate and reasonable
price.
" That owing to the acknowledged diminution of
supply the present- price of British Plantation sugar is
nearly double the price of Foreign-grown produce.
" That in the port of Bristol, where an immense
capital has been for a long series of years employed
in trading for colonial produce, there is not at the pre-
sent moment a single hogshead or bag of sugar in the
importers' hands.
" That a portion of the capital invested in the said
trade has, in consequence, been necessarily withdrawn,
and that in the opinion of your petitioners, unless a
remedy be adopted by your Honourable Board, the ul-
timate consequences will be deplorable.
" That your petitioners humbly conceive it to be
unjust that the country, after having paid twenty mil-
lions sterling for the abolition of slavery is our ow•n
West Indian possessions, should pay so dear a price for
the support of the colonial interest, which is the only
party benefited by the grant.
" That the amount of the present eonsumption of
British Plantation sugar alone exceeds two hundred
thousand tons, and the present price being more than
twenty pounds per ton dearer than Foreign-grown pro-
duce, it appears that, independently of the duty of
twentyfour shillings per cwt. paid on British Planta-
tion sugar to Government, and of the aforesaid twenty
millions paid to the West Indian interest for emancipa-
tion, there is an additional sum paid by the consumer,
at the rate of four millions sterling per annum on Bri
tish Plantation sugar alone, for the gratuitous benefit
of the colonial interest.
" And they are further of opinion the consumption of
sugars in this country may be increased at least fifty
per cent., thereby improving the revenue by an addition
of two or three millions, as well as giving an increased
impetus to the trade of the country.
" That your petitioners humbly conceive that a re-
medy might be found in the admission of Foreign sugar
and other produce at a modified duty, for the purposes
of home consumption, giving on the one hand protec-
tion to the colonies, and on the other, putting it in the
power of the consumer to make his purchases at a rea-
sonable and fair rate.
" That, in conclusion, your petitioners would humbly
suggest that the amazingly increased consumption of
articles of foreign as well as colonial produce, admitted
at a modified duty, would not only materially benefit the
whole body of the English consumers, but also prove,
by the increase of duty, a valuable and most legitimate
source of revenue to the Government of this country.
" That your petitioners earnestly hope that your
Honourable Board will consider the importance of their
case (in which almost every British subject is interested),
a warrant for the adoption of the means they have sug-
gested, and that your Honourable Board will issue in-
structions for the consummation of an object so impor-
tant and desirable.
" And your petitioners will ever pray, &c.
" Bristol, May 7, 1840."