The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-15 00:00:00

SUGAR DUTIES.

The House then wi,rtt into Committee en the Sugar Duties,
and on the clause for levying the duty on refitted sugar,,
Mr. HUME said that he wished to ask the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, whether, as they were desirous that the colonies
should enjoy the advantage of protection, why they subjected
sugar which was introduced into this country from the East
Indies of the same quality as refined t.o a greater imposition
than that which was laid on refined? By this imposition there
was a duty of 2s. 4d. against the colonies. Now as the co-
lonies were a charge on the revenue of this country he could
not see any reason why there should be this imno•ition laid
upon that produce which ought to support the colonies ; he
could not see why this 2s. 4d. should be rstained. He thought
the better plan would be t.o give two years after the 14th
March, when the new duties were to come into operation,
and then to alter the duty by the amount stated, so as to make
the duty upon sugar refined, but only equal to clayed sugar, the
same as that on clayed sugar. He wished to protect the public
against any combination of the sugar refiners, for he thought
that such a combination might very easily be entered into ; but
of the fifty-two sugar dealers in Landon he believed there were
twenty-four who were very large holders of stock. He could not
see why the growers of the East and West Indies were unable
to introduce any sugar in a refined state into this country.
He could not see why they should not avail themselves of the
advantages they possessed for refining, and so introduce it into
the country in a refined state, He knew it was the policy to
protect the manufactures of England ; but he thought that, in
the present instance, such a deviation from the usual policy
was for the benefit of England as well a.; of the colonies; and he
should, therefore, propoaa that instead of 18s. Bd. the duty at
the end of two years, the duty on refined sugar equal to clayed
sugar should be 16s. 4d., and that these words should be in-
serted after 18s. Bd. in the clause.

On the amendment being put,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
Hon. Gentleman was proposing an amendment in 1845 which
would not come into operation till 1847. The fact was, that
refined sugar was introduced at the some. ate as Muscovado..

Mr. HUME said that perhaps it would be bet ter to alter the
time from two years to six months; but he saw a daculty, and
he would, if permitted, withdraw the motion.
The amendment was accordingly withdrawn.
On the 3d clause, which directs the imposition of classified
duties,
Mr. HAWES said that he had hoped that this system of
classification would not have been persisted in. He was certain
that the plan was so objectionable that he hoped the trade
would have influenced the decision of the Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and led him to withdraw
this plan altogether. lk held a letter in his hand from a per-
son very largely engaged in the sugar trade, who stated that it
was utterly impossible to distinguish the several classes of sugar.
Ile could not, in fact, understand the motives for the imposi-
tion of these extra duties on foreign sugars, buthe now thought
he saw the reason for them. The fact was, that foreign sugar.
generally speaking, was of a higher quality than colonial
sugar, and it was in order to prevent it coming into competition
with colonial sugars, that this duty was imposed. He thought it
was unfair that the consumer should be made to pay simply for
the sake of giving advantage to the c,lonists, and he should feel
it his duty to take the sense of the House on the insertion of
this clause. He had lately had a communication from Amster-
dam, where they had got experience in the sugar trade, and it
stated positively that it was utterly impossible to distinguish
the qualities of sugars, for it very often happened that
sugars of an inferior sort were sold at hieher prices
than those which were obtained for qualities rated as of a
superior description. At Liverpool a great sugar bus_iness was
done, and a friend from that place had written to line to say,
that if these classification duties were brought into play every
siifferent parcel of sugar would have to pay a different duty,
and that many woul t have to employ a Custom-house officer
for every hogshead of sugar that was opened. The Govern-
ment roposed to procure sample tests or standard samples, as
they coiled them, by sleani arid railroad, so as to rectify the
mistakes of provincial officers. But he wind i tell them the
quality of those samples would alter eve-y day. He had hoped
to have had the assistance of hit Hon. Friend the Member for
Beverley (Mr. Hogg) on this occasion. Ile had had it on the
discussion of the duty on East India sugar, and he could not
understand on what princip ehe did not vote on this occasion.
Much had been said about the American tariff. Ile held in
his hand a copy of that tariff, and he could assure the +These
that there was no country in which sugar was introduced at
such low rates as in America ; and he, therefore, hoped that
this clasification of duty would not be retained. The lion.
Member concluded by moving the omission of the clause.
The CH ANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that had,
the Hon. Member for Lambeth been present at the discussion
of the duly on East India sugar he would have been
aware that every point to which he had addressed
himself had been very fully considered.—( Hear, hear. )
When the sugar trade was in its regular state the difficulty ae-
prehended by the Hon. Gentleman would not arise. The
sugars were sampled as delivered out of the ships for the pur-
poses of trade. After the immediate difficulty arising fiem the
first rush into the market, no difficulty would exist. The Hon.
Gentleman said he had received letters condemnatory of the
proposed plan. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had
received letters some condemning and some approving of the
plan, but many of the reasons alleged against the plan were in
reality strong reasons in its favour.
Mr. BRIGHT said he had had an opportunity of conversing
with a wholesale grocer, who had been present at the first sale
of Manilla sugar, and this person told him that great difficulty
arose from this classification. The reason assigned for this was
that it was felt impossible to tell what amount.
of duty the sugar would be liable to under the new classifica-
tion. This individual expressed his conviction that this classi-
fication would be the source of endless diffieulties to the trade.
If the Hon. Member divided the House, he should certainly
divide with him.

The clause was agreed to without a division.
Clauses 4 to 12 inclusive, were then agreed to.
On clause 13 being proposed,
Mr. HAWES complained of the clause as a departure front
t!,m Warehou,ing Act.
The CHANCULOR of the EXCHEQUER thought the
clause was not such an infringement of that Act as would justify
the House in rejecting it.. On inquiry, he hail found that the
re-weighing cost the Government 8,000/. a year ; whilst the
variation was found to be only 14 lb. in 1,505 cwt. of sugar.
Mr. HUME said, the proper course for the Government to
pursue, was to levy the duty on all the sugar that actually
went into consumption and no more. Why could not the
Chancellor of the Exchequer take an average of the quantity
of sugar in different warehouses, and make an allowance of
one per cent. ?
Alderman HUMPHREY said, the proposition of the Go-
vernment would be a premium for franc!.

Mr. FOSTER said it would cause great injustice, and no
individual would be satisfied.

Mr. lIAWES said, the Government was undoing what
had been done by former Acts of Parliament. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer said it would effect a saving of 8,0001.
a year ; but he thought it was a very large estimate. He