The Sun.
London, England, 1820-09-30 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.
FOREIGN TRADE OF THE COUNTRY.
de(
The SELECT CommITTEE appointed to con.A•
te
of fife means of maintaining and impftviag
„ort
FOREIGN TRADE of the Country and to
their opinion and observations thereupon to the
House ; and to whom the several Petitions relat'
ing to the Commercial Restrictions, and to tbe
Duties on Timber, presented in the present. ses.'
sion, were referred ; and who were also .1'
powered to report, from time to time, to the
House;—have, pursuant to the Order of li
House, considered the Matters to them referred;
and have agreed upon the following REPORT ,
It has appeared to your Committee, that the means of
tanning the object, to which their consideration has bee"..ute
rected by the order Of the House, consisted less in afforo!°,4
any additional legislative protection or encouragement to trti
commerce of the United Kingdom with Foreign States,
P
in relieving it from a variety of restrictions which the 110"..1,
of a former period imposed upon it ; and which, whether e 4
s
pedient or otherwise at the time when they Were eneet,i,
having ceased to be necessary for the purposes which otWi
natty recommended them, tend to embarrass its operatiet2e;
and impede its extension and prosperity. Your Couttnit!st,
are satisfied that the skill, enterprize, and capital of ton
Merchants and Manufacturers require only an open and 00
field for exertion ; and that the most valuable boon that .t,
be conferred on them, is, as unlimited a freedom from ill Ite
terference, as may be compatible with what is due to prira
vested interests that have grown up under the existing%
tern, and those more important considerations with 41 if
the safety and political power of the country are luting"'
connected. ,
Your Committee hare therefore thought,
best consult the intentions of the House, by directing twto
immediate attention to those regulations which, Wider 0.
that the/ soltir
name either of Restrictions or Protections, operate in It,
trolling the commerce of the kingdom, in order to esti° of
their nature and effects; and to judge in what degree it 1,0
be prudent to retain them, :Led in what instances (sohject•oe
the considerations referred to) their removal or woditica°
may be recommen with safety and advantage.
In contemplatingded the range of the duty assigned to th--,°'
and the variety and importance of the objects of inveott;
lion embraced by it, your Committee were of opinion, I to
the most convenient course they could adopt, would
take the subjects up under distinct heads, and report tro.
them in soecession ; by which the House might be errati'7o
not only to form its judgment more easily on each subject
t
separately submitted to it, but also more readily to give e°cto
to its judgment, when formed, by such legislative enacttoeu
as in the respective cases might seem expedient. tbe
Before, however, your Committee proceed to advert tll,
points which have been the principal objects of their inethe
they are anxious to call the observation of the House tam(
excessive accumulation and complexity of the laws un, icll
which the commerce of the country is regulated ; with of
they were forcibly impressed, in the very earliest stage
o,
their proceedings. These, laws, paned at different pr es,
and many of them arising out of temporary eircutristall'or
amount, as stated in a recent compilation of them, I°,► toy
wards of two thousand :of which nu' less titan eleven oo
dyed were in force in the year 1815, and many additions t
been since made. After such a statement, it will not ape
extraordinary that it should he matter of complaint the to
British merchant, that so far Irma the course in which iroo
to guide his transactions being plain and simple; so f3r
being able to undertake his operations, and to avail hit°ol
of favourable openings, as they arise, with proniptitoJe, re
confidence ; he is frequently reduced to the necessitY °.toitt
sorting to the services of professional advisers, to aseerfore
what he may venture to rlo, and what be must avoid, I",e, the
be is able to embark in his commercial adventures, will' it'
assurance of being secure from the consequences of °n o;
fringement of the law. if this be the case (as is se.„erd
inour Committee) with the most experienced amongst the ',
cP.OO
has, even in England ;,eater, in how touch eater a degree
te
the same perplexity arid apprehension of danger opera jot'
foreign countries and on foreign merchants, whose acgaao,
once with our Statute-book must be supposed to be 001 oit'
Lively limited, and who are destitute of the professions,
thorities which the merchant at home may at all times tioC.
suit for his direction ? When it is recollected, besides',
lOS!
a trivial unintentional deviation from the strict letter ot
Acts of Parliament, may expose a ship and cargo to theoe,
convenience of seizure, which (whether sustained or ad (re
dotted) is attended always with delay and expense, a° WS
quetitly followed by litigation; it cannot be doubted. oe
such a state of the law must have the most prejudicial 'Poi
once both upon commercial enterprize in tine countr/';,-,go
upon our mercantile relations and intercourse wit* Nirit°
nations. And perhaps no service more valuable 0000,
rendered to the trade of the empire, nor any weasorettabl
effectually contribute to promote the objects contempla 0 si
the House, in the appointment of this Committee, 0,340,
accurate revision of this vast and confused mass of legisOfit
and the establishment of some certain, simple, and rl
tent principles, to Which all the tegulatious of col°,'llef:
might be referred, and under which the transactions
chants, engaged in the trade of the United Kingdorory",,co
be conducted with facility, with safety, and with confiatf ,
The commercial restrictions, to which the intercourse'
United Kingdom with Foreign States i 1 subjected, 021
classed under three heads; first, those intended for °oil'
provement of itS navigation, and the support of itssitr;
power ; secondly, those which arise out of the necesoo,
drawing from commerce, in common with other ref.uller $4Vi
proportion of the public revenue; arid, lastly,thoseve oeStil
to the prOtectiOn afforded to various branches of ourdetefet
industry, for the purpose of securing to them the Monte!
supply of the country, arid the export to its several 0'100;
lhe head of restrictive protections, to which the e.t..,oreeuleJ j
and inquiry of your Committee has been in the brit
ditected, is, that which comprehends the acts intent
the support and extensions of British shipping. ottr 10°
It would be superfluous "to pursue the history 0-, ~ feutt,
for the promotion of British commerce and navigat'°;o4o
the earliest period at which the subject appears W blvcestiio
piedahe attention of the Legislature, to the reign 0,
stag
tire Second, when they were brought nearly to that Oa'
which, with some subsequent modifications, they 101 e, 0
co Whatever may hare been the principles which dittatise;
tine political benefits that have accrued to tire countrigiVj
the Acts passed in the 12th, 13th, and 14th of C'h°reo
Second, and known by the name of the Narigation in ,
Statute of Fronds ; it can scarcely be denied, that t 4 to re
a tendency to cramp the operations of commercet'a° foot
pede the-growth of that opulence which may arise lido
reign trade. 10r°
1 •
The provisions cif' these laws apply, flint, to the fell: 1,
of the trade wills Asia, Africa, and "America";aa", ocottat
turies of the Grand Seignior and the Duke-Of
Secondly to that of the trade with the other
tins o
Europe.
The leading principle in reference to the former:l-WV
goods the produce of Asia, Africa, or America,anoset
its
rittsties specified, shalt be imported into this liiag.„oist IL!
directly from the place of their growth, and ex:noi Tot
British ships, owned by British subjects, and tfavLgtaretrtsre
certain proportion by British seamen. To the ',1,74,0f _of
goods enumerated, coming from different -cotintri!t;tat,:oit
rope, shall be imported either in ships built in th'bit;ol
which they are the produce, and owned arid navigatelptaijok
subjects, or, in ships of Great Britain; except frog] eelitvfo,
and the 'Netherlands, which are by name partialif arit ?of
From these last-mentioned countries certain artic!"
hibited front being imported into. Great aritaitilhe.
ship whatever, under the penalty of confiscatiOn
and cargo. •

ET"e"ntirl t 2_e_t_------..--'''. J 1
mitTH. .ii t the
At Actcn. on the 28th inst. of a still-born chtt
of Andrew Louglinati, Esq. of Bedford-square. • .• 0
.......
' . e
10.11
MARRIED. tll' i
wOO,Ol Tuesday,
asto,,
, t,r .
,Srei Sept. 2f, ,a
Tiller,t t,V eao'fd
IC3
rhnuortcwho,odbif rosatlietly
Ann, eldest daughter of Thos.Mitchell, Esq. of the'
Of'
DIED. f 04d
tle
At Montego Bay, Jamaica. in the 32d year ° 0
Thomas Beare Junin, Surgeon. .mati°l!l/ArlfAlo
On ‘Veilnesday, the 28th inst. of an infia.t!--effit's -.40'00
bowels. Da‘;id Lance, Esq. of South Villa, It'l!„,A00:$1)
On• Saturday night, the 16th inst. raging Trau. attsor col,
single woman, of Saleby. She had sustained th:ol,. Vole tcp,
eight days. In the early stage of the sYmr, that 01110$
plaint was mistaken for typhus, hut it is knol4 ,dof:iott
happy sufferer was bitten about nine years ago 1%600'
was supposed to be mad, and a uselauebolY Cu
that opinion is afforded: in her death.

so. ,c
,
LONDON: Printed by.l. B. CARS-FAIRS, or. j
Ormond-street, Queen-square; and publisoct
SCRIPPS, of No. 7. South Molton-street,
tit
Otice, No. 112, Strand; where Adrettiserotn
Letters, Ste, (post-paid) must be addressed.