The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-30 00:00:00

etejt(}
circumstances, that statesman would have adh 4.0 0
what Mr. Burke had declared to be the paper
the navigation-laws. Various high autheritic336o,
strongly recommended the relaxation of the 11010
Of
laws in favour of the colonies, and recentlY fto
Harris had distinctly declared for the abol.o
restrictions imposed on the West Indies, their
means alone they would be enabled to suPI")/3' to
selves with free labour at moderate rstes„,' Aid°
fact was that the protection party in the I,`'i,,ent
were afraid that if the navigation•lavvs were gibsoi,
that party in the House of Commons woultd
e time;
their cause. He was ashamed to take h& tsr''
the House in referring to such trivial and
:futaent',
ments, but they had been forced upon lus e, of,
Were the Canadas to be sacrificed to the views'd
small section of the colonies ? Whoever hadut, ied ales
Elgin's admirable dispatch on that subject wo.s_
see the justice of conceding what those colon' t!.."
—namel freedom to compete with others in
ing trade. It was useless to contend all 1°E144-101#
the broad facts that stared them in the face.
herselfe
had declared that she was willing to
an equality with England, provided she had ;oglstill
procity allowed to her. It was useless for D
contend any longer for her exclusive pri/ilegiei:
believed that England could not compete wl he 04,,
countries in respect of the commercial marine,es I,o}o
then tremble for her supremacy. No Privillbetil):ll
elusiveness could preserve her supremacy m for
and her sailors were not able to do se. „,t
United States, the facts of a few years last rui
vt
show that England could compete with tnefesio,
the present system. He would merely cite ."400,,
to show the relative proportion of increase blear irtl'
tonnage of Great Britain and the United Stil
was observable during the course of 19 Yes"' or
that the tonnage of American ships in the. y.(reoie(l,
was 1.621,000, whilst in 1846 it had 113,‘00,
t f:it
foro
2,562.000, showing an increase of 941,000 41.60,00 e,
amount of British tonnage in 1827 Was 2'.n that
1846 it was 3,817,000, showing an increase leo,. on
space of time of 1,365,000 tons, or 44 per sqt/111/oii
than that of the American commercial nai;Joil
same number of years. The number a m,s4SoPisi
engaged in the trade of the United States in 14846 tbo
beingshsesj
an aggregate amount of 45,000 tons. In sbc/
nage had increased to 205.000, these
ployed exclusively between the united
t'rade
England. But if he were to take the ester,"
all ports the increase would be still grol ;0
it would show 766,700 tons in 1844 fig elol,
54,000 in 1824. These f cts were n'ersfote.:l)!
and they proved that even undera the Presel3;j;ol`,
increase had been enormous. He theentertaine tate ,
the competition which would result from 00°0,
of the navigation-laws, for if England could c
ra soitg
America she would have still less to fear frilr 012.0'
Denmark, or Prussia. He would net enle I'o'9
further details. Those were subject-nial,f,erh the,S,
sion in Committee. The real j n wnic" tb.
question
Lure If ~,t4 or
had to decide was whether the LQO°- and t" -
tent itself with patch-work legislation, s-iturt?i
great blot of the navigation-laws on the evt4otil thbe,,,°(
whether the House was prepared to estr.' true
.f‘ei
ciples which it had declared to be tile "terrtkei;
commerce. He had never disguised i tbe
tne question to himself or the House, tend,oo Po'
and
doublde b
sahoftia
went of the Right Honourable Gent'e-u 0 es:e',,
traieidnedi,t
subject fairly before the House. If his in° h° um
had arrived at which it was necessary 1° to tb4;
ltdaldeteoplytherevgier:s
iwt,biorotiotiloyDies
spondent alteration in the navigation-10e f 110'0
had been made in the commercial policy ° Tbejili.r
He would not detain the House furthert' for il`o
were, as he had already said, subject-arb'is is4ii
sion in Committee, and having state u t hipsg
opposing. the motion, he should eaten opfli,
leaving it in the hands of the House. h,t, oior
Mr. Alderman THOMPSON said t-
his opposition to the proposed alteratioaas Dscootoi,
tion-laws, he was quite disinterested,ot 01
possessed any ships, nor did he rePresegnits•
lotto io'
ency that was engaged in maritime pa,
Member proceede to contend that all ntal-to gr,
late years on maritime affairs had tendehiceesedhis
reigner an advantage over the British s'7,etedloroi
much as that while the latter was befriis fsciii,rll4tes
kinds of restrictions, the former had eve'ifer e".
ship-building and manning his vessels, petitori;,
rates which would be ruinous to his c°n3,9llecl,;cei!tieoll
so late as 1844 we had passed an Mt, -1 ote-aliP4,
chant Seamen's Act, by which severainit tfpooroi
oi
created, and made misdemeanours age, piel)or
shipowners, of which the foreigner „neili°.egeal
Having read an extract from the Act 10,4,t0ci "aro'
of his assertion, the Hon. One' 6°. •.1)
Member , the ,rita
sin '
g his intention of voting against' P. ti'
fspe
proposition. r late 1--f „00
Dr. BO WRING contended that, 0' late of apes
shipping had not had the worst in the "Attier"-lets'
tion with American vessels, even itt erf A
he
but more especially in neutral markets'a to ettethe;
pamphlet had been printed and sent round con ioientor
bet of Parliament, which he presut!e his a oretioo'
whole case of the Protectionist, but, 'O,, Atli,tigstoef
case was not at all satisfactorily made °I Lid thl,Pecot prei'
things it asserted that even if the repeet.:,,otolt'sit,-„
laws lowered freights, the reduction 01Pri` one F')'
ti sti cove
would not necessarily follow. Surely elteed .op ri
sent da knew that prices were regule,`, the 66doe‘;ics°
demand, and that any means by wi,- ~t-a
be increased must inevitably result ',11.„,te t'do.,ol
Prices. Adam Smith was also ealleu.;icio° `4oc6,oiovi
restriction, as having expressed an 01)'
vigation-laws were necessaryfor ,00 eoe
„ IY,
navy. He had a great respect for Ins`;tie Wed Poplf .
of Adam Smith, hu, ' for° es 011
,on this ques e f
hey ed • 0. hi •
subsequent
years had proved him lo ropes otileot
correct opinion. The change n° 1:14 l'itechgsProfdt
the complement of previous alteratien-•0 -000
recent commercial legislation had hetei bee;eizotilil
cost of transit. First of all canals I,?,he os,l'olete-ts4
then railways, and now the repeal 0' ;•60i0 trveg,e,
would remove all unnecessary and itri.„,-citer`ros °PI FY,
the price of merchandise or rottit-,;00-04 ;016°0041
producer and consumer. The naligs- priocs peeo
it
if
to him to be founded on the perverse 00 • Ifee,
pi
supposing that hostility among trade/ thetnst We sej
ingredient in their prosperity, t 133 siglo" d
diminished the prosperity of our °iv, bogey scoot;1,
equal ratio, increased our own. Bat wool el Ifficf
arrived at a period when such doctrines cooed ites.d,.
out of Parliament, when it would be.q, 00001 143
prosperity of our neighbour was not cwritil 61,
but highly promotive of, the corntadeer whici,ioo,soeo;:
our own country. One delusion nu seed
tlemen who opposed the Government rosent
to labour was, that the shipowners reuPtd bets ettlfitt
,0`
coerce of this country. Nothing n °,troalev 00001,
founded. They were merely the 'Di theeal 101,
by the merchant and manufacturer °repo% 00
their goods, and had no more claim t° he fps(,'oreel4tll
tarsals vir 0
of commerce than the carter ,he e
As to A
upon the road.—(Hear, hear.) „tin e (Sot
tures which had been drawn of the didr Dot °0 091,
from the repeal of these laws, be had beech°
value to them. Similar predictions 0 and 1011,01
in with respect to the corn-le,`" bad beecd c,t
was aware to what extent thei prodl/40iPaib
The fact was, that legislation nev,''r or ,"01,11,;011
bbt
to the extent anticipated, either 1"0.
quite ,
interests of the country.
Owner should have the privilege °' cheap
wherever he could get the work cloo.:ootelisue
(Dr. Bowring) did not fear that 111"00 tlwoirlof.
have to go abroad for that purP°sel DrititsPicA
once exposed to cotnpetition thw as CPOOO 3v,
would find the way to build ships wits 3,0 ego
foreign rivals.—(Hear, hear.) There rrotte le c."
of these resolutions of which he diePedeeoloo
was the power of reprisal given to ther
.0
to 0
ti i(
He thought that we should endvou 4reer
by of. duo
n •
ations by our example, and not police f,OO ,001
strictive policy, which as a general th LOO ,ODO
demned. Having read an extract froinercisl
Lion in favour of the abolition of coroF4o. tbat„oeoo
the lion. Member concluded by sionin° this ef
had come to the same conclusion e costhos
upon the corn-laws, namely, that th ab°
d tote
course would be the immediate an be 1
restrictions on commercial transit. that the Mir,/
Mr. BAILLIE (Inverness) achnitt'rioug l 5 0)
tion-law was, to a certain extent, ellcoreo,9
and commerce of the country, as we of ,iief fop
tended to restrict tho free intercisalfb-,,,bt o
.00
.0;
between nations. Thus harbour an._ ebthe 4P roo
de •0" re° o'
a certain extent, injurious to tra
_,11,030 d
whether the advantages derived bYcL:!'.ntesbi,ol,iiorrzy
hours and lights did not more than
_°,`"? In °43e, 4
strictions occasioned by those imPu°S."to
this question there were two o'n' the ceo°'ipit7/0
the effects of the proposed ehsnr ou our %yr,/
of the empire; secondly, its effectrd t° the Cen/c1,141
commercial interests. With reea
7 Colonies of tor
they must inquire whether the iler coOt.forl °ertl
the power and wealth of the me
they were mere costly
nothingappendasu• h
to t-eeopirel4ol
expense, and contributing y
of the
15 01:
permanent wealth and prosPerit t be th tea 0,0100
view inns gist Jr to I
conceived,that the latter at e the; 00,,t
if not by the Noble Lord,l as Oll ,he
city of the Government, inasin
to 100 k
de tbo
had tended to lead the colonies frQo
o, ythle tile 00 bi
with the mother country as onetr.. sod bi,eo fbeir°,o°
henceforth to derive no advant e,
s:about t° for 11!0 c:1 °(r
now proposed Government vver ,0 ke
they were to have no favour or pry'' and JP: AV( 0?
COritale 00, 0° 0
in our harbours over other
rern them tb°s lie
we would no longer demand 1.
orta °Yer of ?Jett 1°
protection for our ships in their Pthe, vie
parviito/
nations. Now, if these wV.fsk for aill,fi:spePoorp,
and of Parliament, he woula shcuat_e of 011;
it that we were incurring a gars[d defelifcisi• be 3,013
providing for the maintenance the Cani,hlis_„do',o
nies?—(llear.) Take the cas.eori,
which eliscre resiy,oeff
accorded to them a constituti t being titis alp
• Governor 'sorry Os 0 'PP
independence—their to _tot Vebii
only to the Colonial Legytitu_ as useta.',.°
hoot
would not the Canada' b>dj
one of e the
.0
00,0
country if she forme_,,,ear, h a.tb!, pe01:1„te
the American union ? tto &se', Je„
the case, how long did flat ;.rxed for otherLotiVfOld
consent to bk, "% ake P het
country would con:,
colony easur-r t 00
and defence of that olitic to 101. 017
cory-,
a series of unwise andcoino P,s9 of the, tsel,_e pr0,,,r10.°0
prived the West Indica 'blar'proveu!tenoight; v1;015
inerly possessed, whence s its sere2,lo
labour from countries truaico, t° `,bat
0, V coo,
and having reduced those i...
to th:p4lsoit, fro 'lO
intimate
on ruin we now eopio oi awleg ker.° and
greater advantage tt?alil,';',.,Pthati in diltd ive_ust iter, .00
produce from those i 1 a.
ghat hencefer".st
and the Brazils, and the che°r„ ss'he Prvaiveo
r 0 , di
lain what we require in 0 _ colovi
_,,or 0.1,9
no favour or protection to 1,!,r no
,tiov,ueoci ;if eti
minding, on the other lean°
one co 1, Ibo ;40. r
Would anY ion °..ntri
from them. the P°see63 OP-
such circumstances,
eat ii°
would be of any be