The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-29 00:00:00

4

1118 duties on rum and hollands should be extended to
:Pb rite distilled in this country, and that they saw no
red son why foreign traders should possess any advan-
,llg e over our home manufacturers. The Right Hon.
.Ife ntleman was certainly a verycomicalChaucellor of the
the fex chequer; for whenever it suited him to argue against
, colonial distillers he then endeavoured to show the
use that the leakage and wastage was next to no-
thi but when he wanted to avoid putting the British
!et .tillers on an equality with the colonial and foreign
Wl_ tillers, he then immediately discovered that the leak-
e and wastage was :exceedingly large. It reminded
on eof the fable of the Satyr and the Traveller; for the
It ght lion. Gentleman could warm his hands and cool
do porridge with the same breath. But there was no
übt upon this point, for they had the authority of an
_4" Of Parliament as to the amount of leakage and
911 attage in the case of foreign spirits. By the Bth and
t of Victoria, cap. 91, sec. 22, the allowance for
wri:, stage was, one gallon for every 100, for six months;
fir roe gallons for every 100, from six to eighteen months;
a gallons for every 100, from eighteen months to two
Y; ars; six gallons for every 100, from two years to two
' tars and a half ; and so on. All that the Irish
tiers asked for was to be treated with equal justice
ith the foreign distillers, and that they should have
se same advantages which the foreign distillers ea-
dt
Mr. REYNOLDS said that (the Bill did not go far
!lough, and that if the Right Hon. Gentleman should
efuse his assent to the motion of the Hon. and Learned
'(ember for Kerry, he would inflict deep injustice upon
he distillers of Ireland and Scotland. As to what the
'c'ss to the revenue would be, the calculation was very
• Much guess work ; but if the storing of spirits were en-
' couraged, the consumption would be increased, and so
far the revenue also. Coupling the Bill with the Rum
Duties Bill, it seemed clear that the Government were
• lascrificing the interests of Ireland to those of the West
411 dies• If spirits remained in bond for seven years, the
• colonial manufacturer would have an advantage equal to
6d.fu per gallon. If the Government persisted in their
-lsal of the claim in question, they ought to take out
Patent for making converts to repeal ; distillers who
had been opposed to repeal were beginning to say that
'
Was folly to expect justice from an English Par-
liament.
Mr. MACGREGOR considered the Bill so important
te„ his constituents, and the delay of it so prejudicial,
"t he hoped, whatever might be its defects, the House
Would go into Committee at once. The concessions and
alterations made since its introduction had been gene-
rally
satisfactory ; and, in the last week of a long ses-
ie jo the real question was, whether the Bill was to be
ly rejected
or not ?—(" No.") At the same time,
t ,ozpped to see, eventually, an equalization of the duties
en home-made spirits.
h '4% HUME would give his vote on the principle that
be wished to see equality between the foreign and the
me Producer.
ss'olonel DUNNE looked upon this measure as giving
"me advantage to the producer abroad over the home-
3natinfacturer.
4„ lir- DUNCAN considered it to be not fair and honest
,se the manufacturer in this country, and was surprised to
hear it advocated by an lion. Member for Glasgow.
The House then divided, when the numbers were—
For the instruction to the Committee 37
Against it
Majority —39
The Bill then passed through Committee, and the
report was ordered to be received to-morrow.
11. The Consolidated Fund Bill and the Exchequer-bills
were each read a second time, and ordered to be
seinmitted to-morrow.
COPPER AND LEAD DUTIES BILL.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved
'flat the abovenamed Bill should be read a second time.
Jord G. BENTINCK said, that in the absence of the
that Member for Bodmin, it became his duty to move
ra this Bill be read a second time on that day six
°Mils, and he was induced to take that course for
xuseveral reasons. In the first place, it was indecorous and
re.fitting, that at the very moment when the Govern-
t was confessedly almost in a state of insolvency,
,t"I was obliged to borrow 2,000,0001. sterling in order
t° make up the deficiency for the year, the Chancellor of
rue Exchequer should squander away a part of the solid
revenue which was raised on the industry of foreigners.
the next place, this measure was another step in the
.sly of direct, as opposed to indirect taxation; and,
rdl, it was objectionable, because it would deprive
the miners of Cornwall of the protection to which they
dWere entitled at the hands of the Government.—(Hear,
ear.) The tax which it was proposed to throw away
. Leis
"piping time" of finance, amounted to 6 per
L71(1)t. ad valorem ; but, although it was a small duty for
Lei foreiener to pay, it concerned the subsistence of
more than 22,000 British labourers, who, with their
Jiautnilies, represented nearly 100,000 souls. The mea-
te,e doubtless would confer a boon on the smelters, but
their situation was not one which demanded peculiar
Viaideration, for at the present moment the difference
Price between copper ore and copper was 22 per
"lite The smelters, however, were powerfully repre-
sented in the House of Commons; hence the favour
,bB4°lvn them at the cost of the poor miners. Mr. Alder-
Call Thompson, who was extensively engaged in that
Alder-
Dr
theneh of rade, had assured him that the effect of
present measure would be merely to put the
%mount of the tax proposed to be repealed into the
Pockets of himself and his co-manufacturers without
1. being of the slightest benefit to the country.—(Hear,
:tear-) Our colonies, also, were interested in this goes-
-rill' Oalrthief hs
second efeanilaedretaodi.ingduce the House to reject the
ho would propose in Com-
mittee that copper ore the produce of a British colony
should be imported duty free, A few weeks ago the
Under-Secretary for the Colonies referred to South
Australia as a colony which had made rapid progress
in prosperity. The exportsB from Australia now amounted
to the value ornfe3
38
ore which co 1
from i
and the value of the copper
that colony was 108,0001., being
sopnoek-tehnirodf tohfe tghreeatwhallopl epi n e sTshaendll onn. t Genetnotlfe mo
uarncohlaoc-1
tlthteetu
s, and he trustsd that the Government would not drive
into a state of discontent by cutting off from them
Plitt lucrative branch of trade. No less than 800 miners
:
;11ai ready emigrated from Cornwall, in order to work
1 Australian mines, and numbers of Irish poor might
2.001V130 sent out to assist in raising the ore. Let not the
Government then, surrender the trade of which Australia
Wasa the prosperous site, to the Cubans and Chilians. He
d stated the other day that the price of copper ore in
Cornwall, at the end of the last Midsummer quarter, was
11 p„
tk_ cent, lower than it was at the commencement of
Year. He had stated also that it was lower by 18
r Cent, than it was in 1847, and 2.5 per cent. lower than
reae..ctt en ay.erage of the last fifteen years. The effect of that
in the price of copper ore on the wages of the
et...• "r.s in Cornwall was equal to 17s. Id. on every ton of
~.,;ratsed. The quantity of ore annually raised in Corns
4.? Was about 50,000 tons, and about 22,000 persons
thete employed in raising it. He regretted to say that
oto. condition and prospects of the Cornish miners were
eats deplorable. The Noble Lord here referred to an
4act from the Cornwall Gazette of Friday last, con-
-0 lag a most distressing account of the crops, and went
say that he was afraid the Government might ex-
of ,t to find another Ireland in Cornwall, if, in the hour
eti.'heir struggles under the dispensations of Providence,
fr'oYl4 took from them any portion of their profits
who mining operations. Ile asked the Noble Lord
Ns her he was prepared, for the sake of carrying out a
the ruble abstract principle, to run the risk of reducing
alarte°ple of one county of England—a people as r0b...,
b..., able for their attachment to the Crown and their
Tcudeigful Conduct as tor their industry—to the wretched
he (ur in which he found the people of Ireland? If
Noseolo so, he would do it to promote the interests of
tradew,llo had invested their money in foreign mines.
ILIA the
ofthe House would be told that the smelting
Was ih country was leaving it, and that this Bill
a l
ast resource for the prevention of so great an
Be detput if
, any such statement was about to be made,
foit" that it had any foundation whatever in truth.
for hpisaisi that even this year, which was not remarkable
exeeeszaaess of trade, the import of foreign copper ore
1,44 Y for: by upwards of 2,000 tons the importation of
vtgh-Ze.r year. And if it should be said that tho
'torn o,l;laer had a great protection in the cost of freight
sea hod he would ask whether the smelters of Swan-
-41 the piic't It still greater protection in the difference
10 the retee Of coal, coal being at Swansea 4s. a ton? As
had e,as made by the Board of Trade, he thought
liteetts- NIA to complain of them. They were fre-
t
avolired
,Liang, and it always happened that their errors
112 ent, that side of the argument which the Govern-
Lknilt ttarh°ll!ed. It had been contended, on the other side,
should the importation of copper ore was falling off, we
dee, er„fore permit foreign ore to be imported free
"'etises•io.f 'ove, from the returns presented to both
aPPeares Parliament by command of her Majesty, it
148,
ti L: that during the six months ending in July,
metal hue quantity of copper—that was, the weight of
`uatitha orrted---was 1,319 tons. During the first six
forth
ththe t.hat w.. e returnPresentyear that was the weight of metal set
signed "A. W. Fonblanque." Though
the eto:'` the return, there was every reason to think that
1. mai _
appea ,cluantity of metal imported was 5,395 tons.
that the
first rsetu quantity of copper ore imported in
eoetai z months of the ear 1846 was 25,035 tons,
fling 5 162 Period of. • I tons of metal, that in the corresponding
treated
4,011147 the ore was 18,896 tons, the metal ex-
c°PPer fr tons ;in the one case yielding 20 per cent.
...ow she
_ifin every ton of ore ; in the other 21 per cent.
Board lee quantity of ore from which, according to the
treated
w`
...trade returns, 1,319 tons of metal were ex-
rate of gas no less than 27,155 tons of ore, being at the
as. trans co",sr.pey cent. That. if true, proved a most dise
that in th",'lnon of the trade. But, it appeared to him
for no e4c returns there was a most grievous error,
for °lle noUld understand how the copper ore should
v 'ears Yield 2
ailuvredwould
e ear, produly, 0 and 21 per cent., yet, in the present
at the rate of four per cent. ;
s exposed ?
ittlaret
tneobwe he Only
ask, were 100,000 English-
as he had *u t to suffer on account of such blunders
seated
vo2tefor the retolution It was upon such m.sr p e re-
°TlB 48 these that the House had been induced to
; and it was now, in the last days
• pped of all its independence,
I .August,a when the House of Commons had been
nEtnkrupt Exehequergalled upon t
go upon theer,
throwtohat t h eaywwa
ye r4eo7oiot haa,
and to
Loss of 23,0001., sell stock Exchange,
and there, at the
Possess, rie arraigueocie s which the Government did not
Ilya}, taxes which had Government for throwing
di ay
and for erto been collected without
to such changes inducing the House to consent
as those when examined t ose upon statements which,
(49ar,
hear.) The ned out to be misrepresentations._
‘s the Bill b Noble Lord concluded by moving
*oaths. e read a second time that day six
Mr. w YLD seconded the •
asking this course was, becausemotion. Ills reason for
Inent had brought it her Majesty's Govern-
aeedon, and because th
forward at such a late period of the
no distant of Cornwall would, at
day, be reduceedP
County of Cornwall had be
to elateitte of utter ruin. The
date for its minerals. Durienh known from the earliest
bnPortant interest kinds g late years a large and
lam° Were Prang uP, and a population of
solely elepandent on the prosperity of the