The Sun.
London, England, 1834-01-08 00:00:00

I what work there is to be had. If, under
such circumstances, labourers continue to in-
crease, wages must continue to fall, and
the distress of all will be immense ; all will
be in a starving condition ; but it would be ab-
surd in them, in the face of the increase in their
numbers, to say they were all starved to death.
So it is with capital. If the quantity of capital
in a country is greater than the profitable em-
ployment to be found for it, the interest of
capital—the profits upon it, must fall, just
as the profits of labour fall in consequence of
a superabundance of labourers. Since the peace,
capital has kept accumulating ; whilst the employ-
ment for it has remained comparatively stationary.
The consequence has been that the shipowner's
profits uprn his capital have, with all other
profits upon capital, fallen much below what
they used to be. That this is a circumstance
much to be deplored there cannot be a
doubt ; but the question is, what remedy will
remove the evil ? The object is to obtain
high profits upon capital and high wages for
labour. This end would be attained by killing,
on some fine night, six millions of the young
people of England and Ireland, and annihi-
lating half the capital of the country. That
would bring down the people and capital to the
proportion they bore to land, or the field of
production, that is, tie profitable employ-
ment for labour and capital, existing in the
times of our greatest prosperity. It so hap-
pens, however, that six millions of people
cannot be found who will be kind enough
to sacrifice themselves for the comfort of those
who will be left behind, and that men will not
be persuaded to throw into the sea half the
accumulated labour which they have invested in
the shape of bonds upon the State or in-
dividuals, or in other ways. The question
is, then, whether prosperity and happiness

would not be equally restored by enlarging the
sources of employment for capital and labour ?
There cannot be a doubt of it ; but the legisla-
ture, which consists of landowners, has hitherto
fancied that, by restricting the employment of
capital and labour, by preventing its being given
in exchange for food brought from abroad, it
would profit them. The employment of labour and
capital being thus restrained, hundreds of thou-
sands of labourers are driven abroad, who, if they
worked at home for the bread they go abroad
to seek, would pay millions in the shape of
taxes to help us bear our burdens. In like man-
ner capital, after being employed for a little time
at diminished profits at home, flies abroad and
sets up mills to manufacture cloths which we might
have exported .This is actually the case,not with the
capital of the shipowners only, but with the
capital of all classes, for the capital of all classes
yields low profits. This being the large and
enlightened view of the case, what is the remedy
proposed by the shipowners to relieve them-
selves from the low profits they complain of ?
The imposition of duties on articles brought
into our ports by foreign ships, higher than the
duties imposed upon the same articles brought
in our own ships ; or any other kind of dis-
criminating duty which will " protect"
British shipping. This is the plain, naked
demand of the shipowners. We will suppose it
granted : nay, we will suppose it to cause every
article imported into, or exported from, the
kingdom, to be carried by British shipping. The
first effect would undoubtedly be to raise freights,
and make the fortunes of all at present possessing
ships ; but capital now lying idle, or getting
low profits, would forthwith be embarked in
shipping, and this operation would continue till
shipping profits were again brought to the level
of the profits of capital embarked in every other
kind of adventure. This is so plain that even
the shipowners must see it ; but they calculate,
we suppose, upon making their fortunes,
and leaving their successors to devise some
new scheme for raising the profits of shipowners
independently of the profits of every one else.
In point of fact, however, it is idle to suppose
that so absurd a plan could even temporarily
succeed. The instant we imposed discri-
minating duties on foreign ships entering our
ports, foreigners would do the same upon our
ships entering their ports, a game at which we
should clearly be losers. All that the recipro-
city treaties, which the Government were com-
pelled by foreigners to make, do, is to
oblige each party to levy upon the vessels
of the other the same duties as are levied
upon his own. Spain does not act upon the
reciprocity treaty. Let us see what the Ship-
owners' Committee say upon the subject :

" The state of the Export Trade from this country
to Spain, in which an advantage approaching to mo-
nopoly is enjoyed by Spanish shipping, in consequence
of the heavy discriminating duties imposed on impor-
tations into Spain in British ships, has engaged the atten-
tion of your Committee. They have not yet been enabled
to procure a redress of the grievance, but cannot believe
that the British Government will much longer permit so
injurious a system to continue, without recourse to those
measures of protective retaliation which are provided by
the Reciprocity of Duties Act ;' of the alleged advantages
of which Act, the Spanish Government has hitherto re-
fused to avail itself."

Here is in the same breath a sneer at the " al-
leged advantage" of the treaty and a call upon
Government to get Spain to act upon it !
Cannot the shipowners imagine that ii' we were
to act towards other countries as they wish
us, that is, as Spain is acting, we should
have pursued towards us the course they
want to have pursued towards Spain ? We
might go on thus showing, the short-
sighted, inconsistent folly of the shipowners
in almost every one of their organs ; but
powerful as are the prejudices to which they
appeal, and deep as is the ignorance upon which
they rely, the time is past when we need se-
riously apprehend any very great departure from
principle by Government in a matter so often
and so fully discussed.

THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY.)