The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-16 00:00:00

t those goods which they gave in exchange
' imports.—(Chcers.) Therefore he conte
although the first effect of free trade might
duce price, the ultimate effect would be t
higher than it could possibly be under a s
restriction. There was no error into whit,
were more apt to fall than that of attillal.
too much importance to mere price. When
they talked, for instance, of the reduction of
the duty on sugar, they were incidentally told
that a farthing, or even a penny, a pound
could not make any material difference to the con-
sumer. Now, even if it made no difference in price
at all, if the only effect were to give them an addi-
tional quantity of sugar, the change could not but be
beneficial to the country.—(Hear, hear.) If they
imported a larger quantity of sugar, and paid the
same price, nothing in his opinion could afford
stronger evidence that an advantage had been
conferred on the community, because it would
prove that by the additional trade which had been
created, the wealth of the community had been in-
creased to such a degree that they could afford to
pay for the larger quantity the same price which
they had paid for the smaller.—(Cheers.) They had
seen some of those principles illustrated in a remark,.
able manner during the past year. They had be-
&un last year with extraordinary low prices. Agri-
cultural produce of every description was very cheap ;
manufactured goods of every description were very
cheap; and the raw material was cheaper than it had
ever been known to be before. In consequence of
the extreme cheapness, and in accordance with their
principles, which for many years had been as true in
their operation as the barometer in indicating the
state of the weather—(Cheers)—in consequence of
the cheapness they found a revival of trade. That
revival of trade had had a great influence upon.
prices. During the last year there had been an in-
creased import of many of the most important kinds
of raw material ; and one of them, which was now
before the Legislature, afforded triumphant evidence
of the truth of their principles. The Duke of
Richmond complained bitterly because Sir Robert
Peel had made up his mind to reduce the duty on
foreign wool, believing that the effect would be to
diminish the price of the fleeces which were cut off
his flocks in the north of Scotland.—(Laughter.)
Now, if he had taken the trouble to look into the
statistics of the trade of wool in this country, he
would have found, that just in proportion as the price
of wool had been high, they had imported
largely from abroad, and that in thoze years
when their imports were the smallest in
amount, the price of home-grown wool was also
the smallest. In 1819, foreign wool was subject to a
duty of 6d. per pound. Their imports were then only
about 19 millions of pounds weight. Mr. Huskisson
induced the Legislature of that day to reduce the
duty to a penny per pound. The consequence was,
that, in a few years, the import of wool gradually in-
creased, until, in 1836, it amounted to 64 millions of
pounds. During that period the price of home-grown
wool, instead of falling, rose from 13d. to 19d. per
pound. It was very remarkable, that since 1836,
during the bad years of trade, the import of foreign,
wool had fallen from 64 millions of pounds to 40 mil-
lions of pounds, which was the amount in 1842 ; and
that, during that period, wool lied fallen in price, in
the absence of twenty millions of pounds, in the shape
of foreign competition, from 18d. to 10d. per pound.
During the last year they had had a little change. •
He held in his hand a return of the compara-
tive trade of the three first months of the last
year and the three first months of the
present year. He found that in the first three
months of last year they imported 41 mil-
lions of pounds; in the first three months of the
present year they imported 91 millions of pounds;
and at the present moment the English grower re-
ceived 25 per cent. more than he received last year.
So true were free trade principles that the more they
were examined the more did they appear to operate
as an index to the trade of the country, front
month to month. He would refer the Duke
of Richmond, and all who were against this reduction
to the solution of this question. Last year, when
they imported four and a half millions of pounds of
wool, the price was 10d. per pound ; this year, when
they imported nine and a half millions, the price was
is. ld.—(Hear, bear.) But he turned to another
fact ; he looked to the exports of manufactured goods.
They could not buy without also selling. It was
quite obvious that if they received more from abroad
they would export more.—(Hear, hear.) In the
first three months of last year, when they were import..
ing very little wool, and when wool was at a low
price, they exported 1,300,0001. worth of manufactured
woollen goods. In the first three months of the present
year, they had exported 1,700,0001. worth of the same
description of goods. The increased exports af-
forded an explanation of the increased imports. If
the principle of restriction were followed out, there
would necessarily be a diminution of exports, and a
decrease of employment, and increasing poverty on all
hands. On the other hand, the more , free trade
principles were acted upon, the more would trade
flourish, and the more would it contribute to the
wants of the whole country. The principles of re-
striction were principles which, if acted upon, be-
came more difficult at every stage; on the contrary,
the principles of free trade, if acted upon, became at
every stage more easy, and diffused more widely the
benefits which resulted from them. Their principles
were by no means new. There had never been a great
statesman, a great philosopher, or a great merchant,
no, not even a great landowner, with enlightened
views, who had not, in one way or other, advocated
those principles. Eighty years ago Lord Chatham,
in the House of Lords, speaking of the extension of
the trade of the country, said=" I do not des-
pair of my country, and I have no objection
to state what, in my opinion, would restore
the country to its once flourishing condition.
Give freedom to commerce, lighten the pressure of
taxation; and you will have no complaining in your
streets. As commerce is always a change of
equivalents, a nation that will not buy cannot sell,
and every restriction of imports is an obstacle to ex-
ports. On the other hand, the more we admit the
productions of foreign nations, the more extensive
becomes their demand for our commodities. Let the
accursed system of our corn-laws be gradually and
cautiously abromted, and allow the cheap agricul-
tural produce oft the north of Europe and America,
to be freely introduced, and we shall obtain an ex-
tended vent for our manufactures."—(Cheers.) These
principles had been reiterated by almost every man
who was celebrated in history. There was the great-
est perverseness, however, on the part of almost every
Government, for they excluded those articles which
they really wanted, and admitted those which
they did not want. A friend of his had been em-
ployed, three or four years ago to negotiate a treaty
with France to admit our hardware and cutlery. The
French would only consent to enter into the treaty
on the condition that we exported our flax machinery.
The stipulation was agreed to; the English manu-
facturers, on being consulted, were so liberal as not
to offer any objection. Our Government, last year,
introduced a Bill, permitting the free exportation of
machinery, as it was very right and proper that they
should have done.—(Cheers.) The free exportation
of machinery being thus permitted from this country,
what was the first step adopted by the Frencht
Government ? They placed a large protectivedu y
on its importation.—(Cheers.) On the importation
thirty
on fo t cotton„a.ant mtithcehyi n ery
placedintoa
duty o
France,
fwhicihrty they did
francs
per hundred kilogrammes, and on the importation of
k .—(Cheers.)
ob-
tain,fla xa
nd
machinery,
which
kilogrammes.— itvhheiychdtildiey want,
bed beentheylaced a protec-
tive duty of one hundred rammes sop anxious to
Now this was the explanation of this conduct on the
ax machinery in their
opoaortiaogfetthheelm'raeonochfaoGtuovreernomf efint they wished to en-
own country, and therefore they imposed a high duty
upon its importation.—(Cheers.) But this was not
more absurd than the conduct of our own Govern-
ment. Our Ministry had no right to find fault with
the French Government for their conduct. Let therm
look at our own Custom-house Acts, and they would
find that they had no reason to congratulate them-
selves. Those things which they most wanted were
kept out by a prohibitive duty, while the free im-
portation of articles, which they did not stand in need
was permitted. The same perverseness characterised
our legislation with regard to our colonies. There was
one article, a principal article of exportation for our
colonies, but which was not produced in sufficient
quantity by the colonies to supply the consumption of
this country, he meant the article of sugar.—
(Cheers.) The quantity of sugar produced in our
colonies was not sufficient for the consumption of
this country, and yet that sugar was protected by the
imposition of a very high rate of duty. Now,
he considered that the conduct of the Ministers in
regard
trade principles.
to this icle of sugar
had
was
baee great triumph
conductthe Ministers on the sugar question ? They stated
that they would only permit free labour sugar
fo
ofr
free
to be brought into the market of this country.
Now, he believed that the friends of free trade
bad always been found to be the greatest_ advocates
of personal liberty ; but he denied that the course
was at all likely
slavery. They pro-
posed to admit free labour sugar
twohoicohodthoeoeGtoovetrhnomaebnotliwtiaos pursuing
o
of
at a less duty than
sugar the produce of slave labour. Now, the produce
of sugar in
Java, Sumatra, and Manilla, in these
countries in which sugar was" produced by free la-
bour, was about 93,000 tons per annum. About
40,000 tons of this would be imported into this coun-
try, thus withdrawing that amount from the markets
of the world. This quantity would be supplied from
slave labour countries—from the States of South
America. Holland, Germany, and the other countries
of continental Europe, would make up the deficiency
in the supply of sugar, consequent upon
our taking these 40,000 tons of free-labour sugar
from Java, Sumatra, and Manilla. Holland, Ger-
many, and Europe generally, he repeated, would

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