The Sun.
London, England, 1826-04-03 00:00:00

COLONIAL TRADE LAWS OF CANADA.

An extract from the Canadian Courant, given
in our Paper or last Saturday, seems to express
the general opinion of the Canadian merchants
that an alteration of the laws regulating the trade
between Canada and the United States is highly
desirable. Our readers are no doubt aware that
the Act of 6 Geo. IY., c. 114, is the Act which
regulates this trade, and that it was framed upon
those principles of free trade which have been so
warmly and so successfully advocated by a part of
tiffs MAJESTY'S Government. By this Act, Quebec
is constituted a free pore for general importation
and exportation, and consequently goods, the
produce of the United States, are admitted to
entry at that port, whether they come by sea or
inland carriage or navigation. On importation,

however, a duty is payable to the Colony in
most cases. of 71 per cent. ad valorem. A very
few articles are entirely prohibited or restricted'
to British ports, but beef and pork are amongst
them. By the Act 6 Geo. I V., c. 109, goods,
the produce of the Ul.tted States, may be im-
parted into England, either in British or Ameri,
can vessels, direct from the place of production,
or they may come in British vessels from Canada.
Such is the state of :the law regarding the trade
of Canada with the United
,States, and after-
wards with this country. The amendment the
Canadian merchants seek to introduce is, to use
their own words—" To authorize- the produce of
the United States, paractilarly' bulky commodi-
ties, such as timber and, lumber, .and all kinds
of pot and pearl-ashes, salted provisions, &c., to
be brought clown the St. Ltwren,:e, and bhipped
from Canada in British vessels, upon the same
footing ac similar articles ofCatiadian origin."

The effect of this alteration will be to allow
the importation of beef and pork from the United
States, whi• is under the existing law is only per-
mitted from the United Kingdom in British yes-
sels, and the giving of a drawback equal 'to the
duty on American produce, shipped for expor
tation from Canadian ports. • The advantages
proposed to he derived from this alteration, are
the amount of freight that will be earned by
British shipping, Sce., and various other charges
incident to the conveyance, sale, and trans-ship.
most of this produce. The perthission to import
beef and pork is said to be necessary, 'because
the Celony is," confessedly unable to furnish a
sufficient supply for its own consumption."
We must at once confess the results expected
to us problematicaj, and besides that we are
disposed to look with a jealous eye on any
titer alteration of the navigation system of this
country, not so much from any fear as to the con-
sequences
of this or that particular amendment,
but because we think that a steady and uniform
perseverance in the, line of commercial policy
once laid down, is the only chance it has of old-
mate success. That can hardly. be called a sys-
tem which is constantly shifting, and endeavour-
ing upon every occasion to meet particular inte-
rests, and if a system is deemed desirable it
should at all times, whether right or wrong, be
firmly adhered to. In Most cases, indeed, any
system, not exactly outraging- the first principles
of trade, would by this perseverance work itself
right ; for cosntnerce will accommodate itself to
circumstances as far 'es it possibly can.—
It is to this perseverance,, As molds as to
the real soundness of the Ancient Eng-
lish Navigation Laws, that their great and
trnoscetsdant success is attributable. For a great
length of time' they were considered by the best
Statesmen of the day inviolable. Their princi-
ples were then said to be .founded on the
soundest doctrines .of political economy, and the
restraints imposed by' thorn upon trade were
looked upon in no. other 'light than as necessary
adjuncts, to form, and afterwards to preserve the
Maritime ascendancy of these Kingdoms. - How
well the system acted, and how admirably calcu-
lated it was to the end proposed is now manifest-
ed by the state of the Royal and Merchant
Navies of these Kingdoms, and although the
abandonment of the laws under which these
glorious advantages were gainr.ds was a bold and
hazardous-step, we should- be sorry to see this
free trade system impugned, by any want of
consistency and perseverance in the very outset
of the experiment. Present gains we all know, are
strong temptations, and it is, we think when under
the operation of these ideas, that the Canadian
merchants have presented the novel spectacle of a
people asking for foreign produce, to be, placed
on the same footing as their own. The freight
to Ite earned by British
shipping, inconsequence
of the proposed alteration, is delusive, because,
if timber, lumber, 80.4 Wanted by British ships,
they can proceed ,to Arnerican ports without
much trouble and take there on board. Ai to the
gains of the Canadas, by the employment of
hands in shipping and transhiPping United
.States produce for exportation, that alone is
hardly a sufficient reason for making Canada an
exception to a
general law ; because, the low
amount of duty paid on importation into Canada,
cannot so greatly increase 'the charge, on a par•
ticular commodity, as to offer a sufficient ad-
vantage for an infraction of the general coin.
mercial system. To remove the duty, or allow
a drawback, would be to take away the bouoty
incidentally given to
manufacturers. native growers and native
4 As to beef and pork, and salted
provisions, the Colonists may remain satisfied ;
for however unable they may be to furnish the
necessary supply, Ireland can lend them a helping
hand. The trade in these articles is indeed con.
fined to the British ports, but after having been
freed froM the heavy restrictions of the old law,
they can scarcely complain that the Mother
Country, in the exercise of her discretion, tuts
thought it right, for the-sake of an important
branch of the United Kingdom, to retain in her
- own hands, out of the immense number of com-
modities which form the.aubject of commerce, the
monopoly of the trade to Canada in these with
13 Other ankles only.