The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-21 00:00:00

committed. It was useless, therefore, to look for re-
lief by any relaxation of their regulations, for they
were,not more strict than necessary to prevent fraud,
and nothing less than total repeal would be effective.
On the occasion of their former meeting some opposi-
tion had been offered to the resolutions by the sta-
tioners, who then objected to the repeal of the duty.
He did not know whether they confined to be opposed
I to such a measure, but there were several causes,
perhaps, to which much opposition might be attri-
buted. The stationer derived some advantage from
the discount which he obtained from the manufacturer,
1 who was obliged to give discount on the amount
of duty as well as on the material, though he had
to pay the Government in ready money. Some
stationers also took advantage, which the present
state of the law afforded, of making bergains
by buying from those fraudulent makers who had
not paid the duty; and the prices at which the goods
were thus bought were used as the means of screwing
down the honest maker to the same scale.—(Hear.)
But the stationers themselves suffered from the effects
of the regulations for obtaining the drawback, and
were also becoming aware of the injurious tendency I
of the duty on the consumption of paper; therefore I
it was to be hoped they would no longer offer opposi-
tion to the endeavours to obtain a repeal of the tax.
The repeal of the duty would certainly lead to the
employment of an additional number of hands; he
confidently believed double the present number would
be employed, and that consideration alone rendered
the question a most important one in the present con-
dition of the country.—(Cheers.)
Sir Wieeiem MAGNAY said he was glad to find, not
only by the presence of so large a body of paper ma-
nufacturers, but by letters from different parts of the
country, that they all concurred in the object they
were assembled to promote. The stationers also, he
understood, are not so much opposed to the repeal of
the tax as they were, the only real difficulty with
them being the uncertainty in the trade which the
awghiitlasttionitforlasttheed repeal of the duty occasioned
purchase, and were, asthe
stocks d
odidf lossnot likeon
stocks they held. With respect to the new mode
of making paper which had been adverted to by
their Chairman, he could not conceive why it should
be exempted from duty; for if so, other paper made
by a different process than usual might also be
exempted; and as it was, all the commoner descrip-
tions might be manufactured on the same plan that
was now practised in making mill-boards and roofing
paper. With respect to the damages done to pack-
ages at the Custom-house, to which the Chairman
had alluded, lie could bear ample testimony, having
himself suffered severely from it. He had frequently
sent out numbers of packages to the colonies, and as
frequently he was informed by the parties to whom
they were sent that one, two, or more of these pack-
ages on each shipment were damaged and obliged to
be sold as waste. This was a serious loss, and for a
time he could not account for alleged damages, as he
had himself seen all the packages carefully secured.
He afterwards found that the damaged parcels were
those that had been opened at the Custom-house and
then repacked. This had been the case under the
former regulations, but now thet every package was
opened, the damage would become ruinously exten-
sive, and all the foreign trade would be of necessity
confined to the foreign manufacturer who was not
subjected to the annoyance. Sir William mentioned
also instances of the frauds of foreign paper manu-
facturers, who stamp the names of English makers on
their goods, and send them to England, where they
are reshipped for the colonies. In one instance
he had caused a number of packages from
Holland to be examined, on every one of which he
found his own name stamped. If the restrictions on
the paper trade were removed, he believed that at
least double the number of people would be employed
in the making of paper, and the manufactures con-
nected with it. It would be the means more espe-
cially of giving employment to women, of whose dis-
tresses they had lately heard so much, and for whom
it was extremely difficult, ;co find suitable work. In
proof of this he produced a French ornamental paper
box, of which an immense quantity are now imported
into this country. Those boxes were allowed to be
imported as manufactured articles at the ad valorem
duty of ten per cent., though made altogether of
paper, for which the English maker has to pay the
full duty. It was the practice of the merchant to
enter them at a very low price, knowing that they
would fetch little at a Custom-house sale, and the
duty consequently does not amount to the fraction of
a farthing ; whilst the duty on English paper would
be three halfpence per pound. The number of women
employed in France in making those boxes was not
less than twenty thousand, and but for the duty charged
on the paper, they might be made in England cheaper
and better. Another instance of the encouragement
given by the paper duty to foreign manufacturers
was afforded by the glazed coloured paper in which
pieces of linen are usually done up. The parties
have the paper cut into slips, with the names engraved
on each, and in that state they came to this country from
France as manufactured articles, at ten per cent ad
valorem, the value being set at the very lowest rate,
for the paper would be of no use to any but the per-
sons whose names are engraved thereon. In this
manner the English paper maker is driven from the
market in that kind of ornamental paper, for which
there is now a great demand. Embossed gold paper,
cut into slips, comes from France in the same man-
ner, at an ad valorem duty as a manufactured
article, to the encouragement of the foreign manu-
facturer, and to the injury of our labouring popula-
tion, thousands of whom are thus deprived of em-
ployment. The system of making up goods in orna-
mental coverings to invite purchasers had been in-
creasing for some time, and would probably be much
more extended, and if the labels and ornamental
paper for the purpose could be obtained from France
without duty the English maker would be quite
unable to compete under such disadvantage. It had
only been within the last three months that it
had been decided that these ornamental papers might
be imported at an ad valorem duty, and the result
would be that all these things would henceforth come
from France. The repeal was the only remedy.
Mr. GAUSSEN rose to move a series of resolutions,
to the effect that great depression at present exists
among the paper,makers, which is attributable to the
Excise laws ; that the manufacture of paper ought to
be encouraged ; that the duties are at present ex-
tremely unequal, being as much as 80 per cent. on
some branches of the manufacture, whilst on the other
descriptions it is but 20 per cent.; that the Excise
regulations are insufficient to prevent fraud; that
some articles of British manufacture are superseded
by foreign articles not chargeable with the duty ;
that the tax is greatly prejudicial to the publication
of books ; that the duty is the last Excise duty that
presses on any considerable body of men ; and that a
memorial be presented to the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and a petition be presented to Parliament,
embodying the resolutions, and praying for the repeal
of the duty on paper. In moving these resolutions
Mr. Gaussen dwelt at some length on the injurious
tendency which the duty had had on the consump-
tion of paper, and argued, from the great increase of
cotton manufacture, consequent on the reduction of
duty on the raw material, that a similar increase
would have taken place in the manufacture of paper
had the Excise duty been taken off. The revenue
derived from the present duty was 620,0001., there
having been an increase of 60 per cent. in the manu-
facture of paper since the reduction of duty in 1836 ;
but the increase ought to have been much greater,
and were the Excise restrictions taken away the paper
manufacture would make most rapid progress, and
afford the means of employment to a large portion of the
population.
The resolutions were unanimously agreed to.
Mr. NORRIS urged upon the meeting the absolute
necessity, if they took any steps at all, of acting
vigorously, and bringing the question to a speedy issue.
No one could doubt that the 5 per cent. duty, which
had been imposed, had, from the very first, been paid
out of the pocket of the manufacturer.—(Hear, hear.)
He thought that if, by any means, they could indem-
nify parties who had a large stock on hand against
loss, they would obviate any great difficulty and
secure more combined efforts.

Mr. CROMPTON, of Manchester, who attended as
one of the deputation from a meeting held yesterday
in that town, spoke most despondingly of the present
state of the trade. He said that in the meeting which
he represented there were assembled the manufacturers
of one-fourth the whole amount of paper made in
England, and they were of opinion that nothing but
ruin awaited them unless the tax was repealed.
Mr. PBWTRESS inquired whether there had been
any intimation received from the Government of their
intention to repeal the duty, or whether any commu•
nication had taken place on the subject ?
Mr. DicxENsoli said there had been no communi-
cation made yet, as it was deemed requisite to have
the support of a general meeting before application
was made. Now that they were backed by the reso-
lutions of this meeting they should go to the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer with greater confidence, and
endeavour to make out their case in the same manner
as the soapmakers and glassmakers had done.
A PAPERMAKER from the country, who principally
manufactures the lower class of papers, said he had
severely felt the effects of the introduction of the
French boxes. lie had formerly received extensive
orders for an article called " button board," used in
making boxes, but latterly the orders had been dis-
continued by his customers, and he was at a loss to
account for it. The mystery was now solved ; for he
had no doubt that it was the importation of those
French boxes that had caused the discontinuance of
the manufacture for which the article was employed.
After some discussion, in the course of which it
was stated that the London paper makers intended to
act in concert with those in the country, and would
be glad to have their co-operation, a committee was
appointed for drawing up the memorial and petition,
and for waiting on the members of the Government to
Irepresent the case of the paper makers, and to urge
their claims fora total repeal of the duty.