The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-06 00:00:00

HIE FREE-TRADE CONGRESS AT
BRUSSELS.

The international congress about to be convoked at
Brussels on the 22d and two following days of Septem-
ber, under the auspices of the Belgian Free Trade Asso-
ciation, promises to be an occasion of some interest,
raising again, as it will do, as a basis for further Cus-
toms' reforms, alter the interval of nine years, when the
last conference was held there, and under more favour-
able circumstances, the discussion of questions affecting
the manufacturing and commercial relations of different
countries with each other, and the economic conditions
on which the labour of each nation depends. Both in
this country and on the continent exertions are being
made to give publicity to the project, and practical and
scientific men of all countries engaged in trade, com-
merce, and public employments have been invited to
attend. The Chambers of Commerce throughout the
united kingdom have been especially solicited to send
delegates, it being rightly conceived that they, of all
men, will be able to throw light on the subjects to be
brought under discussion, and to demonstrate from their
own practical knowledge and experience the precise
operation—injurious there can be no doubt—of the re-
strictions still imposed by various countries on the in-
ternational commerce of the civilised world.
The Chambers of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Bradford
have already heartily expressed their sympathy with the
objects of the meeting by stating their intention to send
representatives ; and it is expected that those of Man-
chester, Liverpool, Bristol, and many other towns will
make a similar response. The conduct of the Society
of Arts have requested their chairman, Colonel Sykes,
who is also, as is well known, the chairman of the
Court of Directors of the East India Company • Mr.
Thomas Twining, jun., vice-president; and Mr.' T.
Winkworth, to represent them at the conferences. Mr.
Cobden is also expected to be present, though up to
yesterday be had not signified his assent. It is, how-
ever, a matter of doubt that be will be able to attend,
as it is understood that the loss of his son, which he has
felt so poignantly, has of late led him to seek for a time
a comparative seclusion from public life.
It may be in the recollection of some that a similar
congress of political economists, convened by the same
association as the forthcoming one, was held for three
days in Brussels so far back as September, 1847. At
that meeting the general effects of the freedom of com-
merce, as well as several special questions belonging to
it, were examined and discussed, and the result was
that resolutions were passed to the effect that, in the
opinion of the Congress, freedom of commerce was a
want of human society, and would draw nations closely
together, which, far from becoming tributary one to the
other, would lend each other a mutual support ; that it
would extend production, and put industry beyond the
reach of violent changes, inevitable with markets con-
fined by prohibition ; and that it would ameliorate the
condition of the labouring classes by demanding less la-
bour in exchange for more enjoyment, and destroy a
constant cause of demoralisation. At the forthcoming
Congress the two que,tions to be submitted for consider-
ation are—first, " What are the artificial or natural ob-
stacles opposed to the extension of the commercial rela-
tions of the country to which each member belongs ? "
and, second, " What are the practical means proposed,
or to be proposed, in each country to remove or diminish
the obstacles which impede the extension of commercial
relations with other nations ? In answer to the first
question each member of the Congress will be requested
to state the facts which relate to h'is country at large or
to his particular industrial or commercial pursuit ; and
the reasons, if any, why customs' or other restrictions
should be maintained in countries with which his coun-
try has commercial relations. Upon the second propo-
sition each member will be desired to furnish such
documents as he can give upon the subject, as well as a
resume of his views and opinions upon it. A distinct
intimation is given by those charged with the organise-
of theSongress that it is not speeches that they so much
want as accurate and serious statistics or propositions
embodying facts, and leading to practical results bene-
ficial to all, their firm conviction, they say, being that,
if the Congress can collect a mass of facts sufficiently
evidenced, it will be proved to demonstration that it
is not by embarrassing but by encouraging trade be-
tween nations in every possible and legitimate manner,
without favour or privilege to any one, that full develop-
ment can be given to the productions of labour, and
consequently to labour itself. The object of the meeting,
in short, is to collect and form an assemblage of facts,
ideas, and theories relating to trade as between nations,
and to deduce from them practical conclusions for the
benefit of each nation in particular and of the human
race in general. They add that the Congress will be a
corollary to the Exhibitions of 1851 and 1855, and that
special circumstances will give it a character of utility
and of opportunity it would probably not have at a later
period—adverting to the exhibiting of products manu-
factured for the use of the most numerous classes of so-
ciety, organised with the aid of the Belgian Government,
and to a conference among the influential men of Bel-
gium for the deliberation of the special subject of public
philanthropy to be held on the 15th September.—Times.