The Sun.
London, England, 1820-12-07 00:00:00

tangling, by a complete separation, of the- busi- -
'less of the Customs from that of the -I.xcise,`
which beedtirged tiPou tfisiNlajesty's 1,.; overt-
ment with so much earnestness by this G.orainit.k'
tee, will become so obvious,that they will feel it,
their duty to-recommend for the adoption o:f the•
Legislature, thiS most important measure to, the
Shipping and Commercial interests. -
cc - •
Petitfonslo Parliament.—Considerable alarm
having, in the- month of May last, been .excited
by- Petitions: to Parliament from certain Mer-
chants of this city, 4 against every restrictive
regulation of Trade; not "essential ito.the revenue,
and 'against all Duties merely, protective frot7a
foreign competition,'. the-Committee felt it their -
duty to convene a public meeting of Ship-owners
for the. purpose of proposing a' Petition to the
honourable the House of Commons, which was
Unanimously adopted,- praying, c that the:House
would pause, ere it sanctioned an alteration in
our maritime Code ; and weigh well the 'conse-
quences of a departure from that policy, mtder
Which our Commercial marine
.had attained to
unexampled prosperity, and our Navy to unri-
valled power ;' hut most particularly deprecating
any alteration in the existing duties, in favour ot.
Foreign Timber. - . •
Tirhber, Duties.—With respect to this latter
subject, so Vitally important- to Ship-owners, the
Committee regret that the-only success which
has hitherto attended their most strenuous exer-
tions to avert the ruin which would result, from
ank reduction of the Duties on Foreign Timber,
or from any material change in the rule of adtnit-
ting to entry Timber (fit for Nava.L•parpuses.) .
from the British Colonies and Settlements-,.free of
Duty, has been an extension of the period for the-.;
-continuance of the former "regulations,., to the
25th March 1821 (by the Act 1 Ceo. 4. cap.;i2)
and in the mean while the subject has beeti refer- ,
red by both HOUSes of Parliathent, to the select
- Committees -.before-Mentioned, and has already
been under the consideration of that of the House
Of Lordi; who, in their Report, haVegiven the
following opinion: ',The Committee would. by
no means suggest for the adoption of Parliament,
any sudden alteration of the existing system, by
which -Wood the growth. of Canada might
.be
est-
tirely•excluded from the means of competition in
'the British' market ;- and they therefore sabmi4,
•that under all the circumstances in which this
Trade has orig-it,ated and been carried on, it may
be expedient to compensate to the Canadian
merchant and importer, bi such limited duty as
may be necessary for-that purpose, the difference
of freight and transport, so as to bring .the!ir
Wood into the British market, on . equal terms
with -Wood of the same dimensions, the gro•,,lf.
of other countries. 'But the Committee-. are of
opinion that if it should be found necessary for
purposes •of -Revenue, to let the amount of duty
on Foreign Timber, exceed what is necessary, for
the purpose they have described, a duty corre-
sponding with the difference should be imposed
on the import of Timber the growth of the Ame-
rican Colonies.'
"Upon-this recommendation of their Lordships,
this Committee have only to reiterate an opinion
expressed in dieir Petition Of May last to the
House of Commons, that if acted upon, the rnea -
stem' would he fraught with cousquunces,
tlisar-
trans to the-British Ship-owner, beyond any othw
change in our existing system that could be de-

vised... •
• " Entertaining. these sentiments, it must be
al-
most superfluous for .the Committee to add an
assurance, that they will continue to exert their
utmost efforts to &event the adoption by the Le-
gislature, -of a policy so opposite to that, under
which it has acquired its present weight in the
scale of nations ; and the abandonment of which.
must sink it into insignificance and dependence ;
and in which efforts, as the cause, is common,
they earnestly invite the continued co-operation of
the Ship Owners and. Ship Builders throughout
the kingdom.
" Relaxation of. the Na72igation Laws.—Tits
Committee have observed with considerable
alarm, a recommendation by the Select C0V1...
mittee of the House of Commons, in their Ite-
Tort (dated the 18th of July), that the provisions
of .the Navigation Laws should he relaxed, ',to
the extent of admittin!, the importation into the
United Kingdom, of The produce of every part
of the world, from every part of the world, with=
out reference to the place of growth or produce,
provided such importation bd., made in British
" Opposition would be very reluctantly offered
by this Committee to any measure, by which the
existing obstructions to general Commerce might
be removed, or its interests promoted ; they can-
not, however, but •think,- that any doubts and
apprelienslons by which Merchants in Foreign
Ports may he checked embarrassed, through.
the. 'operation of those •Laws, might by the Wi!l-
- dom of the Legislature be removed, without so
important a deviation from the :long established
,policy of, this
.kingdom, as the experhnent re-
commended.: the eventual consequences of
which,' this Committeeare convinced, would bo
greatly injurious to the interests of British. Shi-
pping and Navigation, if not to the Commercial
and Manufacturing Interests also. At all evects
die Committee trust, that if the experiment shOuld
be tried, the Legislature will see tit to sublect
goods the produce of Asia, Afriea; and America,
when imported froui other places than those of
their,,growth;to higher ditties than those payable
on direct importation.
cc Trade with India and China.—The Petitions
•
to both llouseS of Parliament upon this subject,
have been' referred. for the-consideration of the
Committees, before-mentioned ; and the Lords-
Committee had already made considerable pro-
gress
,before the close of the -Session. As the
public interest in the questiOn, of permitting
British Sliips to compete Foreigners, air.,4
been, constantly increasing since its first agitation
by this Committee, and as it is'understood to be
the intention. of the Committees of the two
houses to proceed early in their inquiries, thia
Committee are most sanguine in their hope that
the period is not distant ‘N hen British Ship-owners
, being released from the present mortifying and