The Sun.
London, England, 1821-02-10 00:00:00

THE COLONIAL TIMBER TRADE

. .
'The •following Petitions on this important
subject were presented last night to the- House
of Commons froth British North America:----.,
I'g itie Hothurable" the COM MONS-of the •I.7nteti
of G•reat Britain ani Ireland, in Parli,iment assenittlrd ;
~The • I;rnble Pi':1'1110N of the undersigned
Milt-
(-Ha,',S and Others, of NION'I'REAL,iO the Pro Vince
of Lolver Canada, interested iti.the Timber Tratfe,
gitrwr:,rtue—'r hut. yoOr Petitioners are greatly alarmed at
the viroopect, of at' rations in tilt Dot jet. upon the Import of
Tim her, 4eid other Lumber, into the United King loot, which
ircarrie,l into a law, they vottcider trill lie highly
injntions to the Maritime and .Mlnufaetaring Intereits.of the
Uthir.t.otintry, and ruinous to the British North Ametiean
The Petition: is h tee heen t'tnght from their infancy to
belinve, that the en,i,e of ! :British nnipire mainly de-
printed upon its maritime prepond trance, and that that pf epon -
,:erattce and prou,otrd by the Navigation Lana,.
;,oaktorise,iiititt enqil4. merit of Itrit;sleShips and-Seamen, in
pre., rene,to Fejeign, a. tl,rrhy forni.liitr.: a nitric' y for a
supply to the Koyal \avy ; t Colo:jai Timber Trade extern-
c.Jr(tributes To' the formation and support of that
Nors,.ry.

That with such strong.. impressions ;in their minds they
s•iese with extreme cericero, +h ':,e; now maintained, which
are at^vari.ance with the priori-plus that have raised the Na-
Von). to a _degree of prosperity ar.,l-- glory unexampled; and
sele,h.,terol to weaken the that unite the COLltlil-S to
the Nl‘siber Country, by pi p,sing tor ransfer to•Fineigners
aeiva-stages to which . the Colortiei are fairly entitled; under
Ilir restrictions of Trade to wl,ieh they are sobjeeted, and
cheerfully submit to with 0 ¶ O W to !lic general Iretiefit.
That the Petitioners observe also is surprise, that the
alterations in such Duties ate solicite:l tinder the disguise of
extending (Re exp:rt, and consomntion Of 'doltish Manufac-
, lures and Colonial produce ; bat t hey are callifident these
would prove delusive it redlic.ol to practice, and that for every
additio.nal pound- IL rabic of Maoilfartures and Produce
thatst.oulsl.thereliv e7(pottVd to Foreign Couotries, three
.
pontick'would br in the expoit to the Colooks,
and further, that Fot eigp Avolibl in a t lireefold degeee
participate i;;; the freight of the ad,!i.ional Foreign Exoort,
• and at least Nvii.l birds of theßiitisti Shipi ing now employed
in the Trade to the'North Ameiicall Colonies be thrown Jilt
-of empilryment. The.prllXiMitY of Northern Nations wtnild
• in itself deprive a great anaoy Ships ur emplot meta, even if
the vv•hole Foreign .ex' ra Trade in Timber to be creased
by t fie tObteirplated alteraticus was ; court yed in British
Shipping;
That the Nations to whom such sacrifices are to be made
are those afro by their hostility to the United Kingdom in
'the day of her peril, and with a view of sapping her-Naval
' streng•li. unintentionally revealed the secret of the capacity
'of the North American Colonies, to furnish Supplies of Tint-
bet and I,llll3beg, independent of the enmity or caprice of Fo.
• reigners who are Low startling by the reaction of their own
' measufes.
• 'That the Colonies are by lawns welt as be habit restric'ed
•'•fo•tbe use of British Manufactures and Foreign Productions,
through British Medium ; whereas Foreign Nations are by
law and by habit, prohibited the use of many kinds of Bri-
• fish goods • to sacrifice, therefore, what under our own con-
'trol, Afford% a certainty in the one case, for not merely a
--doesb; fill lienefit, but an almost certain injury by the opera-
tion of Foreign control in the other case, is respectfully con-
tended to be neither expedient nor wise.
In proof of the hazard to be run by the adoption of .the
'measure, it is linty necessary to cite the returns laid before
Parliament, whereby it will be found, that the exports of Bri-
tish and Irish Produce.and Manufactures to the l3ritish North
American Cohorks for the last six years. bare been more than
•flauhle•the lihe Exports to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and
Russia. • In point of citiployment of British Shipping, the
difference is it ili'more in favour of the Colonial Trade, as in
the nuniber of Ships•and quantity of tonnage employed in the
Trade between Great Britain and those Nations,- those of
Foreigners have been double that of British, whilst last year
above 1.600 Ships, measuring 340,337 tons, entirely fliitish,
navigated by 17,634 Seamen, were cleared out to the North
American Cilonies, composinr, one-seventh of the whole car-
s•ing Trade of the •Conntry, and neatly one-fourth of the
'whole Export Trade from the British Isles, and the employ-
Theta of which TOnnage and Seamen would, by an alteration
is the Duties, be reduced to one-third its present amount;
imieed it is •undeniable, that no increase in the Foreign Tim-
ber Trade can possibly take place, but at the expellee of a
decrease in the Colonial, greatly disproportionate, and of
conseirtenees alarming in their nature and degree.
That the Ships or Vessels entered inwards ;toil outwards at.
'Quebec, previous to 17E6, were under 80: and previous to
)/ips, when the Bailie exclusion and great extension of the
ColonialTintber Trade commencement a•ere under 240, but
there hare been years since. as well as last year, whenthe
timber exceeded GOO. Thus the Colonial Tinitter Trads is
nmst important in all points of view.
-The Northern Nations- are acknowledged to be too poor to
•aFord to consume our goods, arid were they not so,they would
not he willing to restrict themselves thereto in payment of
"their Timber, as the Colonies are. •
That the value of Colonial chiefly results from the
labour-and expellee of cutting, and bringing it to the Port of
Exportation, and the freight afterwards to Great Britain.
The former is spent in the Colonies, promotes circulation
there, and is invested in British Mannfactures, the capacity
-of the Colonists to consume such being increased by the value
of the TiMber when shipped. The value of the Timber be-
fore it is cot being small, may to some.appear a trifi•ng object
to the Proprietor of- the ground, but when the ea, ct of the
Timber Trade upon the circulation and consumption of the
seotto're is considered, and that the Landed Proprietor Le-
tica:i-tliereby in its facilitating payments, and in apt), eciatiog
t hr vatic of the land and its produce, it cannot be doubted tins
he derives a great advantage from that Tfade, as does even y
r.10r.-is', whether immediately employed or-concern-11 therein
or nor,. by the-increased circulation and -consumption conse-
-spent thereon, giving an increased value to excleaegeable
.eominodities, arid an additional field for employment.
That it is to solid objection to the Trade that a sovall part.
of the Timber is brought from lire States ; the origiea! cost,
.ris has already been observed, is little ; thc'increased
value,-ire the shape.' of, epences, is material, and ceutres in
the •The freight, which is the most material part
re the value of the Timber shipped- in the ColrMies, wttet her
of Colonial or Foreign growth., being all in British Shins, and
greatly valuable in that respect, hi-cause of its great bulk
c...ntributes to !be benefit of great national interests, whereas,
the freight, in Foreign Ships, of articles consumed in the
United Kingdrim, tends to- protho!e.tioe maritime importance
'of Nations who T4'ce.ntiy -have, been, and niay again become,
'cor inveter,te encmies.

'I hat i is als a noitter.of serious consid, ration that
to a lar;e:atnx.nt• has -been invtsted in S.ew Mill 4; and
'tiler Fistatil.sly,nentj C. nieted with the Tio,hcr Trade in
the ivoui s.c-i,iictl'and rendered useless
he arl3' ratriculhat'srrl44l4Vert that- Trade front the Colo-
t.ies to l'oreicaXtongt res..; „rsitlfti.o her, the • Titnlyer Trade
Lis hec.aneof...isicreased c).9scluenee to Canada, since that
the sitiole (th',,st of tite.North-West
'hiltet:4);l;fijdy-ed: fis-11-7!liaS.,:ltrt le operation of Treaties,
,
t:eet)-,t rai)sfei-xyg to- the. th•Aiteft States, and become lost to us
(Jr
The „Ntill'ohert 'C.:ease leave to risfcr.to the very able •and
concincint'statements and documents contained in the
tionslo your llorfourahie I-louse) front the ShipolvnerS of
I.orttiotv„.from the :klerehati..s ard others 'yr gaged in' the
Tratre \wit I.;ie British Colonies in Noriti..Anievicer. acct hoar
nany,of the flntiv,tts, ,an of. svjilcb sock' stweiglity
consirtera,.ioira, that the Petit iourrs implore your'llonourable
I louse. ti,t to consent to alto the. ekisting Duties-131),n Tian
Ler-, .in any vrny hat may give adeanta4es to 'Foreigners;
t h,nt.t hose -which they nowpossess, the continuance
-,csf the.p.resent I)dtie3 heiit alilie necesiary to British ar'td
ColOnial interests of lice kiSt mag.:nitude. , '

And your Petitioners Mil ever pray.
November I, 1920.

'Fe'
the Hunan-al:1e the COMMONS of the United- Kircdoul
of Great 'Britain and iretana iu Partial:tent assembled.
The. -PETITION of• the Unlers;llr.ci: MERCHANTS,
Ship p.vnees, and Magistrites of MIKAMICHI, in the
Pro-since of New Brunswick,

IBuster.Sittwuru ,—That it is riot without great anxiety
-and alatitt -your Petitioners have heard that an alteration of
ihe, existing .arrargentent of Timber .I),ties is, eon, en, plated
to he propos"ClitCt the next Session of Parliament, and such an
alteration,,asfif adopted, must ruin a Trade, which with due
racouragenteuti will continue to be of incalculable advantage
to his M,tjesty.'s Cotonici in North America.
That not only are the Merchants, Stiip Owners,' and Tim,.
her Cutters, but all other classes of People here, benefited
by the Trade, and as one proof anion', the many your Peti
-tioners.cxsuM aditnce irt support of this fact, they bee leave to
state, Volt Farthers, who, a few years ago, raised only enough
.I,tn their Lamb for the -support of themselves and their
f,milies. (and had no incitement to raise more, hecausethere
.were then no.• purchasers for what they could spare), have
since .tlte estuunencemen; of the Timber Trade, increased
their exertions in clearing and itnprofing their• lands, en•
lirely on account of the brisk demand for, all sorts of!Fartning,
Produce required for the uric of the Timber Cutters and others
.connected with the Trade. Amid ntatir iirdustrietts-artd de:-•
4erving Emigrants bare been entiled.tu,settle on-theltilder-
alet.S hinds of this Countrj, svledr bj aivaas of ttke Mcicht}nts

• •
advancing 'to them the supplies neeeisaty•for their support,
until their lands were brought to a state of cultivation to
yield them a subsistence. The supplies so advanced, were
payable in Timber, which is generally prepared for nark, t
during our long winters, avireu neither farming nor fishing
can be carried on.
From a thorough conviction that the imposition of a Duty
upon Colonial Timber, or any reduction in the Duty upon
that from Foreign Coootries, would, by destroying the Trade
of this Country, prove utterly ruinous to a large portion of
its Inhabitants without the .least possibility of any of them
being benefited thereby, your Petitioners are now induced to
address your Honourable Hunse. •
That in the fullest reliance upon a continuance of the sup=
port of Government, and ineuratly conceiving that the inte-
rests of the Colonies would. never be sacrificed to advance
those of Foreign Nations, the i'vlerehants of- this place have
expended vast slims foriniog Establishmeuts suitable fur
carrying on the Timber Trade, and have been in the habit in
importing, and do still_continue to import British Manufac-
tured Goods to a large amount, which Goods they advance to
the Timber Cutters, who have no other way of making pay-
ment but in the article of Tim her.
That in the event of such a stop to the Trade, as the lin-
persition of the proposed Duty would _occasion, those costly
Establishments must go to decay, the Timber Cutters could
never pay for their supplies, and all importation of British
Goods must cease, for the Merchant here'depends exclusively
upon the exportation of Timber to Great Britain to make his
remittances.
That white or yellow Pine (of which description the great
' hulk of the wood of this Conntry consists) was shipped, and
is now shipping at .Irom Fourteen Shillings to Eighteco
Shillings per Ton, .which latter is the very lowest rate at
which it • can be prepared for market ;—even at these low
rates, the importation into the'mother Country this season
yielded perhaps, in no instance, any profit beyond the em•
ployment of shipping, and im several cases within the know
ledge of your Petitioners, was attended with loss to the Itn-
porter. It is therefore obvious, that no duty, however small,
can- be borne, and that the high duty proposed would amount
to a complete prohibition of Colonial Timber.
That the ruin of those immediately connected with- the
Trade would not-he the only evil effect of such alteration of
the Duties; )he Fisheries of the Colonies would be materially
injured,••for the Salt used in those l'• :heries is almost with-
out a smile exception brought out in vessels chartered to
carry Timber home; this return Freight enables them to
bring the Salt at a rate, which your Petitioners think .would
•be trebled at least in the event of a cessation of that Trade.
That all the Tinther brought Willis-Market is of the growth
and manufacture of the Prormee.
Your Petitioners feel a pride in having it hi their power to
say, that a more loyal people than his nsjesty's Subjects in
this Province, are not to be found in any part of his dorni
nions, and they are fully
.persuaded that nothing but the
withdrawing the protection hitherto afforded them, and
thereby destrojing•all prospects of their earning a comfort•
able subsistence in this Country, could possibly induce them
to remove to a Foreign State ;—distressir, as the abandon-
ment of the Country would he to individual feeling,—alarm--
ing as it undoubtedly is, in a national point of view, and re-
luctant as your Petitioners are to anticipate- a state of things
so dreadful, yet from a sense of duty they feel compelled to
state, as their decided and deliberate opinion, that a speedy
depopulation of sique Districts of this Country will follow that
almost total annihilation of its Trade, which would he the
inevitable conseqitence of the contemplated alteration in the
Timber Duties. Vast numbers of Emigrants, as' well as of
the youth of the Country, and others who have not yet ac-
quired a fixed residence in it, and therefore do not come tinder
the denomination of permanent Settlers, and a number, who
are now considered of this latter descliption, would go to
sonic Country where farming can (or where they imagioe it
eats) be carried, on to more advaritage than in this ; and it is
but ton probable, that that Country would be the one, whose
ambitious designs all the energies of these Provinces may one
day be required to counteract.
Your Petitioners beg leave to add to this, their respectful
representation, a statement of the number of vessels that
have been loaded in the River Miramiebi alone, with the
quantity of square
.timber they carried, during the under-
mentioned periods : Tons
SquareTitnher.
From May to 20th Nor. 1817„216 vessels, carrying 72;033
May to December 181E1..278 vessels, 9?,833
May to December 1619..297 vessels, —.107,061
In addition to which, masts, spars, oars, lathwirad, planks,
and stares, to a large amount, were also exported to Great
Britain during those periods.
Although Mirawichi has this season been most abundantly
supplied with Timber, -which has been, and continues to be,
offered at prices unusually low, yet, from the general depres-
sion of Commerce, its export this year will be very consider-
ably lessened, and a stock will remain on band after loading
all the vessels, of about 70,000 tons.
Your Petitioners, therefore, humbly pray, that your Hon.
House will take into serious consideration the vital import-
ance of the Timber Trade to these Colonies, and that you
will never suffer it to be placed on a footing, less favourable
to them than it is at present.
And Your Petitioners, as in duty hound, will ever pray.
Miraurichi, toth Nov. 1820.