The Sun.
London, England, 1821-03-19 00:00:00

reason to believe that it is only by a temporary restraint of that
export that the character of the Wood is likely to be improved,
and its value eventually increased ; such a diminution, there-.
fore, is in itself by no means, in the contemplation of your
Committee, a sufficient ground of objection on the part of th 6
colonies to any alteration that may be proposed, unless it be
such an alteration as- shall be calculated. extensively to exclude
from consumption the timber of the North American COlonici,
and transfer the trade to foreigners. Within certain limits, the
trade of the Colonies of Great Britain hay-ea-just claiM to en-,
couragement and support from the mother-country ; and to such
claim your Committee are anxious to give'full weight. It is
not, however, a question whether this encouragement and sup-
port should be given or withholden ; but admitting it to be due,
to what extent it should be carried, in justice to other interests,
which have also their peculiar claims to attention, and which
- are, in the opinion of your Committee also deeply involved in
this-discussion.. On the fair regard shown to foreign countries,
.the extent of our commerce with them may depend, and in pro
riding with too much partiality for the interests connected with
the trade to and from our American Colonies, we may put in
hazard all those still mote extensive interests thati are engaged in
the export to those countries which are directly concerned in the
timber trade, (if not of our foreign trade generally,) by such a
proof of deliberate preference of a principle of restriction, as
the rule of our commercial policy.
In maintaining the original duty imposed expressly for the
purpose' of encouragement to the North American trade, it
cannot be contended that every, didn't on public faith is not
-fully satiSfied. In point of expediency, however, and in consi-
deration of the interests involved, your Committee are disposed
to think it May be allowed to go even something further in
favour of the colonies. The difference created by duty on tim-
ber amounts at present to 31. ss. per load; if, by the effect of
the alteration, that should be reduced to 21. ss. which would
leave a protection, after providing for the ordinary difference in
freight, in the actual selling price of the respective descriptions
of timber, of P. 10s. per load in favour of the imports.from our
North American provinces, your Committee cannot but think,
in recommending sucha difference, they shall at least be free
from the charge of not having sufficiently listened to the pre-
tensions of the parties whose interests are involved in the colas
Mal trade, and tendered as great sacrifice on the part of the
country, both to the shipping and the colonies, as they can
persuade themselves the House will be disposed to sanction.—
At this rate of difference, it appears to your Committee, a fairer
competition will be given to foreign produce, and a freedom of
choice (which under the, present relative prices can hardly be
said to exist) will be , secured to the consumers, between the
descriptions of wood brought from the respective points of sup-
ply, while a certain and large proportion of the consumption of
the- United Kingdom will be assured to the American colonies,
in the appliCations of their timber to those uses for which its
qualities and comparative price must give it a preference.
Hewever the tendency of the evidence generally may be, to
recommend an alteration in the duties, to such an amount as
may prove a corrective to the trade, without impairing mate-
rially the consumption of the American timber ; a considerable
variety'uf opinion was expressed by the witnesses examined, as
to the extent to which an alteration of the existing duty might
be carried, without danger to the fair demand for the produce
of our American colonies. Amidst the different opinions given
it was difficult for your Committee to determine the precise
amount by which the relative difference between the colonial
timber and that from the Northern states should be reduced,
and in fixing upon 20s. they have not only taken that sum as a
point between the extremes, but have been influenced by a re.
ference to the accounts of the market in several years, and par-
ticularly in 11118,1817, 1213, and Mil, as it is given in a paper
added in the Appendix, and in the evidence of two of the wit-
nesses.; when it appears to have been, according to the remarks
of one of them, in a natural and healthy state ; when a fair
competition existed, when the prejudice entertained against
American timber seemed to be on the decline, and the demand
for it augmenting. The relative price' was, at this period,
about or nearly three to four, which has recently been•reduced
to one-half, owing to the unnatural situation into which the
market has been brought by excessive importations, produced
by the various circumstances which, at the present moment,
have contributed to disturb the channels, and change the cha-
racter of the trade.
Your Committee next proceeded to consider, in what mode
that alteration of duty should be effected, whether by reduction
of duty on Baltic timber, by an imposition of duty on Ames
rican, or by a combinathen of both ; and the result of their con-
sideration has been, a preference of the last mode of producing
the relative approximation they hare recommended, in the
prices of the respective descriptions of timber, by the imposition
of 10s. on the American timber, and a corresponding reduction
from the /duty. on that imported from the North of Europe ;
this they conceive to be most effectual to produce the advan-
tages they have in contemplation; by removing the excessive
inequality of the present system, facilitating our intercourse
with foreign nations, and marking our desire, as far as circum-
stances will permit, to adopt more liberal principles than those
by which our commerce with them has been hitherto goyerned.
The state of the duty on deals will not, in the opinion of your
Committee, allow the same degree of relative reduction to be
applied to it, which has been recommends hfor that on timber.
The rate of duty on long deals at present falls consi-
derably below that on timber, whilst on those of short
lengths, it rather exceeds it. In what principle this dis-
tinction in favour of deals, as compared with timber in the
log, originated, your Committee are at a loss to discover,
and are averse to recommend a continuance of it, at least
to its present Went- They feel, however, considerable
difficulty in -yroposing to equalize the duty on timber
and deals, which, if effected by a reduction of the duty on
timber, must be attended with a large sacrifice of revenue, and
if by an addition to that on deals, might tend hi some measure
rather to impair than assist the foreign trade of the kingdom, by
the effect it would have on the exports of wood from those
states, of which deals form the greatest proportion. This, in
the opinion of your Committee, precludes the application of a
rule of strict equality to deals and- to timber ; but it appears to
them, that while the amount of duty on timber is reduced in the
degree proposed, a small increase on deals of largealimensionm,
will in some measure lessen the distinction, at east as far as
that class of deals is concerned. On the shorter deals, they re-
commend some reduction of duty,. less with reference to the
manner in which the duty at present bears upon this description
of deals in comparison with timber, than in consideration of the
difference in the quantity of wood contained in the given number
of deals of the larger and smaller dimensions, which seems to
call, in respect of the latter, for a more favourable assessment.
Another alteration which has suggested itself toyour Commit-
tee, is one that has, eference to deed ends, on which a compara-
tive low duty has been hitherto levied, in order to accommodate
the Ship Owner in broken stowage ; this indulgence "has been
found to lead to great abase, in covering the introduction of
timber of this description as cargo, (a practice never contem-
plated) to an extent most injurious to the revenue. They there-
fore submit the propriety of confining the length of this class of
deals to six feet, and making a moderate reduction in duty to
which they are at present
In consequence of the Report referred to them, the mode of
levying the duty on deals and wood of the other denomina-
tions, under which it is imported into this country, according
to the cubic measure, has been an object of your Committee's
examination ;„ and although the reduction of them all to their
cubical contents in assessing the duty, seems, on the first view
of it, the most easy as well as the enost equitable principle that
could be adopted, your Committee have found reasons in sup-
port of continuing the existing mode, (both as a matter of con-
venience and as producing a degree or equality between the coun-
tries by which our importations of wood are furnished,) suffl-
cientao prevent their proposing to the House to relinquish it ;
in preserving the mode, however, they are of opinion, that an im-
provement may be introduced into the scale now in use, by ad-
mitting a gradation of duty, between the deal ends and deals of
the largest class, which, it appears to your Committee, would
attain more effectually that advantage by which the -existing
mode of levying the duty is chiefly recommended.
Your CoMmittee have abstained from entering, in this Re-
port, into details upon the subject of battens, oak-planks, staves,
deckaplankepaliog-boards,' masts, spars, end the other various
denominations under which timber is imported, to which their
attention has been direeted. The duties on these will be influ-
enced by those on the more important articles, and will make a
necessary part-of any measure that may hereafter be subnaitted
to the House. • .
, The policy of a legielatiVe preference being given to the im-
portation Of timber in the log, and the discourageinent of the
importation of' deals, seems to your Cominittee very doubtful,
both because they are of opinion that any advantage to be ex-
pected from the conversion of timber into deals in this coun-
try, ' will not be sufficient to compensate for the correspondin"
isadvantage to the- general consumere(to 'whom the deals would

dealers, that the difference is at present such as to be prejudicial
to the trade and to bring into the market from the colo-
nies an excessive
.quantity of timber of a very inferior descrip-
tion, both in point of cittldity and preparation, and that some
alteration Of the duty,-.tarulated to appeoximate the relative
prices of the tipibealrenn the North and :from the American
colonits„ would be degrable, if only to confine the .tupply, of
the market to a 'more. carefully selected and better-prepared
commodity. In addition to these inconveniences, the amount of
the duty levied on Baltic timber, and the increased price which,
under the operation of that: duty, the American timber must
have borne, may be conedered as a bounty paid by the con-
sumers of the United Kingdom for the benefit of the 'North
American colonies, and the support of the superfluous shipping
to which the .transport of thaw wood is said to afford the only
:eniriloyment. •
The priulential consilleraticiai by ilahietr the application of the
same plinziple appear to have been limited, are, The danger
incident to want of competition, from the exclusion of colonial
,timber;. and from a reliance for cur supplies on a single source:.
The possible failure of supply from the north of Europe, in a
moment of necessity ; The maintenance and employment of
our-shipping, and the effiect that might be produced on the va-
rious interests connected with our American trade, and the ca-
pital embarked iti the establislinients for carrying it on. The
sanie prudential cOnsideratios, in the Opinion of your Com-
mittee, at present forbid any recommendation on their part,
tending entirely.to take away the legislative protection hitherto
enjoyed by the colonial trade ; but, as the extent of that pro-
tection is admitted on alMost all hands to exceed the necesary
bounds, they have directed their-attention to ascertain to what
amount that, protection, and in what mode, should be pros=
pectively continued.
In so far as any alteration introduced is favourable to foreign
trade, it must have a tendency to produce an increased impor-
t tation from the north of Europe, and thereby possibly to in-
- duce an increased demand from that quarter for the manufac-
tares.of Great Britain ; and your Committee are inclined to be-
lieve that an increased demand would be the result, as well
froni the- desire for British .manufactures that is said strongly to
prevail in those counties, as from the extent to which the ex-
port of them has been maintained, notwithstanding the burthens
imposed on the importation of this important branch of theiralro-
duce into the United Kingdom. Your Committee do not think
it unprobable, that a diminution of the export of wood from the
British North American colonies might, on the other hand, be ex-
perienced ; eome diniinution, as far as the trade is concern ed, would
be desirable, and indeed can hardly fail to take place, even indepen-
dent of any alteration of duties, owing to the excess beyond the
consumption of the country, to which the importation has been,
by peculiar circumstances, recently enlarged. The causes tte which
we may attribute this excess, are, in part, the prolonged expea:
tation of an alteration in the rate of duties combined with the
desire to take advantage of the time by the present law may
continue, anti to anticipate the impending change by the greatest
Possible previous importation ; and in part, to the amount Of
shipping (greatly exceeding the actual demands of our eom-
raerce,) which has been thrown,out of employment by the eon-
elusion of the war, and other circumstances, and which has
been since engaged-in this branch of trade, mots° much because
the employment was attended with advantage, asbecause it was
preferable to the vessels lying entirely idle, incurring expence,
and deteriorating in value.
As our intercourse with the Northern states must be liable to
be influenced by thelluctu.ations of political events; and as the
exclusion from their ports, which has been once experienced,
may at some future period recur, your Committee are appre-
hensive, that the consequences of any measure that might have
the effect of, placing our dependence for a supply of timber ex-
clusively on those countries, might become eventually the occa-
sion of serious political inconvenience and danger; and by the
exclusion of competition, possibly defeat the expectation of
comparative cheapness to the consumers of this country.
The alarms represented in the Petitions from the ship.
ping interest in various quarters, which have been re-
ferred by the -House to your Committee, appear to pro-
ceed on a presumption of the necessarily destructive effects
of any alteration made in the existing duties, a measure
which is accordingly deprecated with corresponding earnestness.
Your Committee feel the respect due to an interest so import-
ant to the power and safety of the country ; and if all the
weight is not given to the representations of the petitioners which
they may expect, it is because the alarms expressed in them'
appear to be carried to excess, and the objects sought, not con-
ducive to the gene'eal commercial interests of the kingdom, in
which their own must be inseparably involved.
Your Committee see no reason whatever to imagine, that the
alteration which they have in contemplation, would be' attended
with the effect of depriving the American'COlonies of their due
participation in the benefits of the wood trade, although it
might have a moderate and temporary tendency to the reduc-
tion of the importations from thence, and so far may, in the
first instance, and for a given period, affect the interests of the
ship-owners. - In fact, the interest of the ship-owners is the one
most concerned in the present question ; while that of the Co-
lonies themselves, important as it is, is still a comparatively
subordinate one. Your Committee fully concur in the wisdom
of that policy Which has rendered the British shipping a favou-
rite object of the attention and vigilance of Parliament ; but
they cannot feel that, beyond the extent which may be ra-
tionally deemed essential to the safety and defence of the coun-
try, every other consideration is to be sacrificed to that object,
or that it is consistent with the public welfare, that the care due
to the interests of our merchants and manufacturers, and every
regard to our foreign commercial relations, should lie foregone,
for the purpose of supporting by artificial means a mercantile
marine in a state of magnitude, at which it has arrived from ac-
cidental causes alone, and 'which is neither conducive to the
commercial prosperity, or essential to the political security of
the.nation ; and in which (unless by the opening of new
sources of employment, or the extension of those existing,) the
regular trade of the country is incapable of maintaining it. Of
this, the great depreciation which all property in shipping is re-
presented to. have undergone, appears to your Committee to
furnish sufficient proof.
The degree in which the shipping may be affected by any
change that is adopted, must depend upon the influence which
such change is likely to have in reducing the export of wood
from the ColOnies. From the evidence ofpersons conversant in
the uses to which wood is applied, your Committee collect; that
for many of those uses, the wood imported from America is
either indispensable, or preferable,_ or as good, or nearly so, as
that brought from the north of Europe. In reference to the
first description, are mentioned masts for ships of large dinien.:
sinus, both ships,of war, and the more valuable description of
merchant-men, which, can only be found in our North Ame-
rican Colonies, and which must therefore form a considerable
article of import into this country under almost. any- state of
duties. To the second, all articles in which facility of working,
and an extensive surface and freedom from knots is required,
and to whatever extent pine timber for these puipoecs is em-
ployed, the American wood even at equal prices would have a
preferenee. To the last, the application to all inferior purposes,
as for packing chests, and various objects in the interior of
houses, -or in situations where it has the benefit of a free cireula-
ton of : for such uses it may be fairly supposed, and indeed
it is more than once admitted; that the consideration of mere
cheapness wOuld cast the balance in favour of the produce of our
American provinces.
The aggregate of these applications of timber, form a very
considerable proportion of the general consumption of the coun-
try ; and it appears to your Committee, that it would require
.something little short of equality in point of price with those
of the Baltic, to exclude the timber and deals of the British
Colonies from importation for these purposes. •Nor must
it be forgotten that the experience, obtained within the Lest/few
veers, of the qualities and value of the American wood, which
has had the effect of removing much of the prejudice that pre-
vailed against it, •in • so far must probably have contributed to
induce a permanent extension of its consumption.
By the estimate of ;some of the witnesses, the excess of sup-
ply of American pine beyond the deinand, is stated to be at
present considerable, insomuch that a heavy loss is incurred by
the importers. This circumstance, even under the existing du-
ties, cannot fail to lead to a reduction in its future importation,
and Of course to a diminution of -employment, in the same de-
areeazif the shipping engaged in the trade. If the effect of an
alteration of duty should for a time increase the demand for
northern timber, it mist also-undoubtedly tend to a similar con-
sequence, not likely to.be more than partially counterbalanced
by a corresponding increase of demand for British shipping in
the trade with the North,of Europe, from the ports, of whiten a
smaller number of vessels may be sufficient for an equal amount
of importation.
.• • By a diminution of the demand from Amerit%, the capital in-
vested in sawmills and establishments in those Colonies, stated
at £150,000, may be liable to some injury. It must be recol
ected, ho.yiver, that the advare to tl- - •

.-- -,
. itawe given _lie etineritan co- ~,
) \ -
:onial trade; on which these establishments were founded has come with wconsidera,ble increase of cost,) and because it is found-
already.extended beyond the period on which those engaged in ed ona principle of exeld,sion, which they are znost averse zo
it had any right-to calculate ; and hiring speculated on their see. brought into operation in any new instance, without the
own views of public policy-, they can have no just ground of warrant of some evident and great political expediency.
complaint, in the event of Parliament taking a different view of Your Committee have discovered in the Amounts before
what that policy requires, and subjecting these duties to some them, that the Protective duty in favour of British shipping,
modification beyond the expectation which they had formed. has been made to operate in different degrees en the importation
of wood of different descriptions, varying from 2A to 5 per cent,
To the Canadian preprietor, the principal value of the timber
and i'a sonic unimportant instances falling below, as in others
trade appears to consist in the 6mploydient it affords to the
persons concerned in agriculture and their servants during considerably exceeding these rites, on the value of the paeticu-
a
certain period of the year, in conveying the wood froth. the hr article imported; for this inequality, which introduces much
ncrplexity into the collection of the duty, there dees.not Appear
places where it has been felled, to the places from which it is to
Zia be any sufficient reason, and they therefore submit to the
be conveyed to the ports of export ; while the part of the buzi-
conSideration of the House, the propreety of making the
alike,
the same
ness which belongs to cutting and rafting, is in many instances consideration
attach on all importations of wood in forti:ri sl
performed by axemen passing from the United Sta,tes for this and C ie. the amount of difference between ,the inee ortation in
purpose, who are understood to be more expert in these opera-
the fbreign ship and that in the British ship, should be fixed
tions than the labourers of the British territories,
If what has bean stated by year Committee leads them' to er-
for the fbture at 5 per cent.
pect some diminution of the export of the American Colonies,
One only
O R from a change in the scale of existing duties, they have also your caunitfurther recommendation has sulegested itself ,totee, which in concluding their eport, they arc