The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-22 00:00:00

IMPORT DUTIES.

Mr. EWART rose to move the following resolution
—" That it is indispensable to the maintenance and ex
tension of the trade of this country, that those duties
be repealed which press on the raw materials of manu-
facture, especially the raw materials of the woollen
and cotton trade. That it is expedient also that
those' duties be greatly reduced which press upon
articles of interchange in return for our manufactures ;
especially such articles of interchange a.s, at the same
time, concern the subsistence of the people ; being (be-
sides corn, which is the subject of superior and separate
consideration) such articles as tea, sugar, coffee, bacon,
butter, and cheese. That it is expedient that
those duties also be greatly reduced which, by their
amount, encourage smuggling ; being at once injurious
to the revenue and dangerous to the morality of the
country ; such as the duties on tobacco, silk goods, and
foreign spirits. That whatever temporary deficiency of
revenue be caused by such reduction, ought, until the
revenue regain its former amount, to be sustained by the
property, and not by the trade and labour of the country."
He said that the repeal of these duties were particularly
called for in a time of peace, and still more so in a time
of distress, such as that which this country had lately
witnessed. The same argument which applied to
cotton also applied to wool. They would not be able to
compete with foreign countries if they kept up their
present high duties. They were obliged to re-export
large quantities of the wool imported into this country.
By repealing those duties they would add to the
comforts of the people, and they would extend their
commerce in coffee, tea, sugar, bacon, butter, and cheese
—articles which were so necessary for the poor. He
thought that for their sake they ought to remove the
duties on those articles. America. with peculiar
sagacity, abstained from levying any duty on tea and
coffee. Those articles had become more important to
the people of this country than formerly, because they
had become more temperate. The tea duty pressed
with peculiar severity on the poor. Taking the amount
of tea imported into the country to be 40,000,000 lbs., it
was not too much to say that 22,000,000 lbs. of it
consisted of congou, the tea used by the poor. There
was a duty of 2s. Id. on tea of all descriptions, which
pressed equally on the tea consumed by the poor and by
the rich. On the trade with China being opened, a
proposition was made that there should be a distinction
in the duty, but a Committee having sat to consider the
subject, they found the difficulty of distinguishing the
different teas so great that they recommended the
present rate of duty, which was adopted. He was of
opinion that to make up to the poor for this, they ought
to remove the duty on cotton. Tkey anticipated an ex-
tensive trade with China, but unless they removed the
duties on cotton they would not be able to compete with
Russia, who, next to themselves, were the greatest ex-
porters to China. The duty was reduced in 1784 by
Mr. Pitt, and the consumption was immediately doubled.
From 5,000,000 lbs weight it wet increased to 10,000,000,
and in two years the consumption of tea, in consequence
of that reduction, rose from 5,090,000 to 17,000,000 lbs.
weight. Then, as to the duty on sugar, it also pressed
heavily on the labouring poor, and it was known that
ten per cent. of all the inferior sugar consumed by the
poor was adulterated. This was owing to the high
duties on that article. With respect to coffee, the con-
sumption increased in an inverse ratio to the amount of
duty. In 1811 there was but one coffee-house which
was frequented by the poor in London—there were now
2,000, and all in consequence of the reductions made
from time to time in the duties upon that article. In
the late adjustment of the tariff he regretted that the
Right Hon. Baronet did not make an equal rednction of
duty on both foreign and colonial coffee, The article of
coffee had shown in a peculiar degree the wisdom of re-
ducing duty to increase consumption. The present high
duties were great encouragements to the smugglers.
Look at the enormous duties which were imposed on the
importation of tobacco. The duty on tobacco was about
800 per cent. on the original cost of the article. Hardly
a day passed without some poor unfortunate man being
brought before the stipendiary magistrates in Liverpool
for having contraband tobacco in his possession. He
thought the duty on tobacco ought to be reduced from
3s. to Is. " I hope," said the lion. Gentleman, in
allusion to a somewhat ominous gesture on the part of
an Hon. Member on the Ministerial side, "I hope the
Hon. Member does not meditate anything of that sort
so soon!"—(Laughter.)
The Hort. MEMBER alluded to protested that he did
not comprehend the meaning of the Hon. Gentleman
(Mr. Ewart). Considerable laughter was occasioned by
this little incident, and upon its subsiding
Mr. EWART proceeded. On former occasions, when
duties were reduced, the revenue had always been
benefited. This had been particularly the case with
respect to the article of brandy. He thought the duty on
brandy ought to be further reduced, considering that it
was now very much used for pharmaceutical purposes.
An HON. MEMBER here moved that the House be
counted, and there being only thirty-eight Members
present, the Speaker adjourned the House at Seyen.