The Sun.
London, England, 1820-05-23 00:00:00

.TIMBER TRADE.

TO THEP RIGHT I-I,)N. F. ROBINSON. PRESIDENT OF

THE BoAct) OP cowritont..
5itt,......F ,„ hog that an official intimation has
been givrti ut the inien!ion to sanction legislative
meet ires, c4itttilitted to produce air increased im-
porttuton of Timber ir-m the North of Europe,
and being as firmly convinced as I ant of my ex-
iNience, ilia• any such measure would he produc-
tine of the most fatal consequences to this coun-
try at large, anti consign to urter ruin many
thous:ll3dg of Eni,,,,lishmen, who now subsist upon
she Timber Ttade established wilt . the British
Colonies in North America, I do, Sir, iinplore
you, as you value the good of your country, not
'o a!low yourself to be deluded • into so fatal a
,uare, by the vain hope that any increase of
trade wi,lr your neighbours will make up for the
posiive and wide-spreading ruin that must accrue
from stopping, or even checking, the trade of our
own Colonies, which now gives vent to British
goods to the amount
,of nearly two millions ster-
ling per annum, and empl:lrs- upwards of 1,500
British ships, navigated by upwards of 17,000 4
1 Britis Seatnen ; io one word, one-seventh parr-
ot' the shipping of Great Britain.
The idea that a large importation of timber
from the ports of the Baltic, whiCh a change of
duty in favour of it would immediately induce,
would lea" .o a corresponding export of British
Goods, 01 give employment to Brifisli shiliping to
any considerable amount, is most fallacious—this
never was the case: why then should it be so at
the present time, when those countries provije
themselves with most of the manufactured articles
they want from their neighbours ; when they
procure their supplies. of )?,sat India productions
from those foteigners to whom a Charter of the
East India Company affords a monopoly of the
European trade; and when the continuance of
thee Foreign Slave Trade enables them to obtain
tront the Multiplied productions of the Foreign
Colonies, sugar, coffee, ,ginger, &C. at touch
cheaper rates than they can be supplied from this
country ?

you will eztimine the accounts of goods
expot:ted nu former years, (before the twenty's of
our enemies fa elfish this country, by depriving
us or our accustomed supply of limber for naval
purposes, gaYe birth tp the British limber trade
with our Colonies, which, tinder Providence, has
pu• is beyond the reach of such hostility in future),
you will find ilia( the exports, r in return for tim-
ber brought troth' the Bal ie,were ut!erly insigni-
ficant. A 4 to Norway, soltotorions is it that the
goods expotled rho her are no object, that the
Board of Cosionts have for many years past beeil
authorized, by authority of the Lords of
the Treasory, o allow vessels hound to that
cono;ry to take the few goods that compose their=
retort) carzmes, without paying any tonnage ditty
tot the ships. That is to say, to consider all such
vesseis as. .4 in bailast." - As to the employment
ot British shipping, it tvooid require only about•
one fourth part of the tonnage to import timber,
deals, &c. Inn the Baltic and Norway., that it
requires to latit'ort front Canada .acid the other
Norh. American. Colonies; and of this
fourth part so to be employed, four fifths at leait
would be foreign
The experiment, however, confidently and
exultingly said by the meribanti interested in the
Baltic trade, iS to be tried ; and if it be, and the
ports of the Country be glutted with foreign
timber, as they soott will be under the fauilitiev -
of our bowling system, then farewell to the pros-
peril). and tranquillity of the British Colonies :
farewell to British shipping ; fareivell to our
glorious Nuty ; farewell to old England, her
of prospelity will be set tor ever.

HEAR BOTH SIDES,
TH¢ CORN I.Aws CONsIL)StgP•

w. p•

TO Mg EDITOR..
We are very apt to loudly advocate any measnre
that we may • think a public advantage, even
[bough the ruin of thousands be the consequence
of
,it, provided we happeri not to be ot the num-
ber; but it tbi., meas.i-re of public utility be also
a private advantage to us, bleats me,- what p 4.
[riots we are ! Our landhohlet s and agricul.
twists, for instance, declare that to support
agriculture IS. the truest of - pattiotism, that it
pays the hulk of the.taNes, and if the taxes are to
he pith? it must be supported. They declare that
are the -best customers ot the manufacturer, find
if they are to support the manufacturer be must
support Is a nation, they exclaim, ever
rich without soil, or the soil productive without
cultivation i atid you may as well not have the
soil as not cultivate it, it you admit corn that is
free of taxation, corn that is taxed, as ours is, can
uevtr be Frodwxd, and where then
,would,be the

foundation of our wealth ? not surely in the bar-
ren wallies of England, that would be impossible;
but it would be in the distant plaint of Poland, or
soils of America. A state of things so unnatural,
it must be obvious, could never exiit. It might,
like dram drinking, produce a momentary relief,
but it most
,ultimately prove the dri-k of death:
Those then are the tritest friends of their country
who support a permanent good, .by maintaining
the' interests of British Agriculture, agains' the
Agriculture of Poland, and not seek ,0 benefit
another country at the expeuce of their own,
Thus our agriculturist. thieking-more or his own;
distress than or any other person's, reasons him.
self into a patriot,' his patriotism and his charity
'equally begioniog at, home.
The menntactnter and --merchant, on the con-
trary, who have always found foreign orders pay
best, declare that foreigu trade is the source of
our greatest evealth, 'and rte encourage it ;s he
roast liberal tool best policy, as well as a pr,)of of.
the most eillightentd patriotism—that if corn were
imported ~ the manufactures-ofehis count ry would
be taken in exchange for it—that our mannfac-.
titres, irons the cost of their preelection, are rival-.
led in ihe loyeign markers—that nothing can he
so injurious to our commerce, which is acknow-
ledged to be the source of our pro,perity and our
greatness, as the core laws. They injure the poor
without benefiting the riche rand every Iriend-to '
his country must wish them abolished.
Government have then to decide between these
interested and very -hostile Opinions, in favour of
which a very great deal of very convincing argu-
ment may be, anti has been adduced on both sides ;
and it is perhaps impossible, in the present state,
of our knowledge, to come to any very satisfactory
decision upon the subject.
Admitting, however, for the sake of argument,
that the agriculturist's vjew of the question is -
quite unfounded, that onr agriculture at home
would only (loutish the more for the unrestricted
importation of foreign corn ,and i hat our trade n ould
be iiriprowed, and our population employed end
increased' by it, it seems a matter of very doubtful
policy, and admits a serious cousideratiou, whet
ther or not we ought to encourage a trade which,
though it mig,ht be a present henefi,, would ren-
der us dependent ur' foreigners ter the means
of subsistence; fur shoold they abuse their power
(than which nothing is more likely,) they missile •
bring famine suddenly upon us, and at, any time
involve us in the greatest calamity and distress.
But setting aside this argument, it cannot be
supposed that 'Government would create oee spee
cies of distress merely to relieve another. A roe. 1'
autacturer who cannot ger work m,y emigrate,
but land cannot, and nothing i 9 more certain than
that to the agriculture -of our own 'country anti
our home trade, whichit is the principal 'means
of 81401)01-Ting, must: we look for those- axes out
of which the- public credit is tobepaid, and the
machihe of Governthent to be supported.
Admitting, therefore, to its fellest extent, the
pia„siniliry 4 thx mercantile theory, I am afraid,
Sir, we shall be under the oeces9ity 01 adoptin4
the more prudential plan of cultiorting our own fields
before we cultivate those of our neigh'bours. We
have expelienee of i hY -advantage resulting from the
one plan ; the other ii yet to he tried, utlid we' are
not in a situation to hazard desperate experiments
in a matter so nationally vital. Our Ministers,
however, are Well practised in the dories of their
station, and do not seem likely tt, enter, into any
rash measure. It may, perhaps, by experience,
hereafter be proved that to tit.tow open the it,rts
will he the most judicious measure that can be ,
adopted, yet until it is muclirnture clear y de- A
monstrated than it is at present, we .701)-
.tioue to hope that not limo so hazardous will be
attempted. •

PLAUTIPS.

INSOLVgNT DEBTORS. -- l'!!e new Insolvent
Dehiors' Bill contains a clause, that U hen a
aebtor shall have bet's:arrested on ineene. process,
and shall trot„ within months, have claimed
die benefit of the Act,, creditors to a .certain ,
amount' way petition the CoUrt to compel the pri-
soner to surrender his properly; a.-tuf,' in 'case of
ref...sal, the Cqurtipay,orderisuch.prisoner to be
committed to the common
.gaol; or 14..u5e.0f
Correction, there to be kept to hard labour till
he shall submit himself to tirraSaid ' When
it shall,appear that such prisoners shall have con-
tracted debts fraudulently, or 0141 have put their
•
creditors to airy unnecessary expense, the Court
may extend the-tertn huprisoriment to any pe-.
riod not 'exceeding • months.—The
contains many other salutary
,clauses'.,, and con-
eludes by stating that it is nor to extend to
I) btorv.

, - MORE CAPITALS Sold by J. and-J. SrvrttyntGn't
this Lottery!--=Last Thnrsday,- 18. h May, No.
12,313, drawn n' Prize of 10,000/.; '16,265, 2101.,
land 17,782, 20_01., Consols; were bog 1 Shares
ar their fortunate Offices, 37, Cornhill,; 38. Hay.
tosrket ; 141, Oxford-street ; and 11, Holborn ;
where they also Sold No. /9,814, a Priz, of
20,0001., and 13,756, 5001., Consols, drtt-wo the
Mt .st Day, 27th April.. Undrawn Tickets :.nil,.
Shares are now on Sale at J. rind J. Sr vi,w RIGHTS"'
Offiees, as above.—The Wheel contains up ...t.trils
of 60 Capitals, including 4 of 30,0301. Every
Ticket end Shale bought between IStli May and
Ist ,June that is drawn a BLANK, or a Ss.IALE.
PRIZE; or UNDRAW&, on- Ist June, may be ex-
changed, or the Purchase Money will be returned,
if demanded on or before 13th June.

HaNRYJOHNSToN is evgq!...7eri !c) prrorrn
limitednumber of flights at the Newcastk 11:lita!re,
which. is under th Ulellegetllll.lt at D 3 CAMP, l'ate
of Drury. Latie.

FOX TIIE SUN.

ON THE RECENT PETITIONS FOFt A FREE TROE.

No. 11.

MR. EDITOR—If experience is to be the test of
truth, it it impossible to avoid regretting that

ADAM SMITH did not live to SEC his principles put

to that tett by a series of events which he, in his

closet, never contemplated. Had he survived
until the present slay, he would doubtless have
cautioned his disciples against applying to the
events of the last two wars a chain of reasoning
never prepared for them. From what be knew,
and had seen, he reasoned ; and, no dostbr, in
general reasoned very justly but what would be
have said, whilst writing nn the balance of Trade,
to any man who should have had the hardihood
to prophecy that the day woold s•,o11 arrive when
all the world were to be at war t.itain,
when all the ports its Europe were to he shut

against her maunfacon es, and when the American
supplies to her West Indian Colonies were to be
wittlbtld. itaving HUI{ and her Colonies to their

own resources i

Would he have believed that she, An,ceus-like,
When struck to the earth in the opinion both of
friends and enemies, would have rken a Giant
refreshed, with redouble:l force, solrly from the
impulse given to her own energies Would he
have believed it possible that she conitl have
developed the resources which she has done, and
that not with an exhaustion of strung!li, but with
even an enlarged prospect of further gigantic
exertions No ! Sir, he would have shrunk, is
second Macbeth, from the glorious display, and
consigned the Prophet to Bedlam ! Yet we
not only Jived to see it ; but, I am afraid, hAve in
some mettsure lived to forger it ;—and to forget
that, wh,n one \\odd as lost to !,,?r, Britain, in

her Colonies, found a Worldi of her own ! ! !
CANADA. with the other Norili American
Colonies, by forni,hing Naval t:upplies for home
use, and provisions and lumber for the West In-
dies, occupying our Merchant. shipping, and as-
sisting in the consumption of our manufactures,
was a principal agent in this political reaction,
cannot for a moment he doubted by him who pre•
fors facts to theory. But, Sir, Canada even
more. Then, as now, she evas our only bulwark
against American aggression, the only defence
of our Fur Trade and of our extensive Hud-
son's Bay Territories. Ail this she was when,
comparatively speaking, in political infancy, and
shall we now desert her whilst advancing, with
liappy promise, towards manhood

Let us look at her extensive and highly ,capable
'lerritory, as yet but thinly peopled. Thirty years'
ago her population did not amount to lao,oocn
but if we consider how much that must have in-
creased in the progress of a complete generation,
aided as it has been by the tide of emigration, we
must feel that, indtpendent of national gratitude,
tine have an increasing deinaud upo►t our uational
policy.
_ _

We cannot discover new worlds for our Manufac-

totes, nor even hope to discover new regions in
this ; but shall we only look to Countries like

the North of Europe, who are too poor to pur-
chase our goods, or, like South America, where
climate, habits, and religion render nine-tenths
of •our Manufactures superfluous for an increasing
sale, and neglect those who will not only enrich
us, but even grow richer themselves, and that too
for our future benefit, by being our customers ?
We all recollect the disappointment at ising front
absurd shipments, on the first opening of the
South American Ports—of blankets to Brazil,
eoffin•forniture where coffins are unknown, ho-
siery where the people wear no shoes—nay, Sir,
1 myself have seen polished stove-grates and
fire irons exposed for sale in the principal street
of Port of Spain, where the sun is nearly vertical
half the year, and where a chimney would be as
great a curiosity as a horse at Venice.
Shall we neglect Canada and the Sister Colo-
nies, which can never compete with us in Mann-
factures, even for their own consumption, with
the exception of some trifling coarse linens and
woollens of homespun, and which can supply us
with all the oak, elm, ash, chesnut, walnut, pot-
ash, ginseng, nay, even tobacco, and, in time,
probably hemp, that we can require—every thing,
in short, but white oak staves, which are consi-
dered indispensable for rum puncheons
we neglect her to foster those who only wish to
become useful and, at last, necessary to us, in or-
der to wound the deeper, when they shall thus be
enabled, in the hour of danger and distress, to cut
us off from every possible resource, by again shut-
ting their ports against us. " The man who has
injured you," says ROCHeFOUCAULT, " will never
forgive you ;" and who will deny that what lie
predicates of the individual is also true in the ag-
gregate ?

Btsicles, Sir, we must not forget that prospects
of trade with the north of EuroFe are as yet

but hopes ; wbilst we now know that Canada
takes from ns Rnm, Wine, Sugar, Tea, and Bri-
tish manufactures to a vast and annually increas-
ing amount. In the year 1819) the imports of
Quebec alone were near 250,0001. greater in value
than in the preceding; and that too under di-
minished invoices, the whole amount of that

year's importations exceeding ONE MILLION POUR
HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS ! The exports,
omitting Furs anti Peltry, amounted' to between
seven and eight hundred thousand Pounds, princi-
pally in Timber, the very article intended to be
brought From Norway, Prussia, and Sweden. The
whole of which employed 150,000 registered tons
of shipping, but really loaded a surplus of 50,000
more, giving bread and employment to about
7000 seamen. Besides the Canadian part of
the question we must also,take info consideration
that of her sister Colonies, which employ up-
wards of 900 sail annually.

It is a well ascertained fact that tie whole of
our Nortb American Colonies, dotinr.; the past
year, employed upwards of 340,000 tons of
shipping. It is a fact as well, ascertained that
within the last five years, the increase of Seamen
employed in our North American Colonial trade
has actually been ftom 6,707 to 17, 634 men
and all this improvement not withstanding an ex-
isting check, resulting from the apprehension of
new darks out Catintli.4n produce, and of opening
the Northern poets by a remission of duties on
Timber. At present, Mr. EDITOR, the ship-
ving employed in the trade to British North
Am rica is equal to one-seventh of our whole
tonnage. But is that to he sported with, even
if no other objection existed than the tact that
the Baltic Trade would cause a diminution of
one-third of seamen and shipping in proportion
as it supersedes that of British North America ?
The Baltic trade, indeed, makes good seamen, of
a certain species : but the Colonial trade, if not
quite so much of coasting practice, has sufficient
to form excellent seamen, independent of the ad-
vantage of its long sea voyages. It is a well
known fact in the navy, on the breaking out of a
war after a long peace, that seamen solely accus-
tomed to the North Country trade requite ranch
seasoning and considerable practice before they
become fully efficient on long cruizes. ,
But one word more, Sir, shall l add upon the

new recommended policy.—The Colonial Timber
trade expenditure is
.mostly laid out • for actual
labour. Destroy it, or even cripple it, you not
only ruin the merchant and Canadian lant!hohler,
but starve the workinig population. This is
essily proved, for a till that only cors five shil-
lings where it stands, is worth abour NiNtt
POUNDS, when teady for shippirg. This fact,
alone, speaks Yolumrs !
In mV next, I shall consider the West Indian
and Home questions, and now remain,
Yours,
RALEIGH.

LONDON JOURNALS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.

[Morning Chronicle]
We have seen-Lima letters, dated the 15th Ja-
nuary, received in Jamaica by the way of Paita.
These letters distinctly say, that the manner in
Which Lord Cochrane had plundered the coast of
Peru and destroyed the property of the peaceable
inhabitants, even of the harmless Indian fisher-
men, had completely counteracted the increase of
partisans on share, and in a very powerful manner
strengthened the hands of :he Viceroy, The alarm
spread every where in the Pacific was so great,
that an end had nearly been put to that immense and
valuable trade in dry goods that had been cart ying
on for years across the isthmus of Panama, the
country merchants not venturing to go to Jamaica
for supplies.

[New Times.]
A letter from an officer at Trincomalee, dated
November 28, states, that our naval establish-
ment there was very sickly, and bad been so for a
long period, with no prospect of a more healthy
time for some months. Two ships, of 28 guns
each, had been ordered to be built at the new esta-
blishment at Cochin, on the coast of Malabar,
with some smaller vessels for the dock-yard at
Trincomalee. The Minden and Set ingapatam were
daily expected at Ttincomalee with teak plank for
the dock, a great want of which was experienced.
With respect to obtaining timber from the island
of Ceylon, the cu-operation of the Ceylon ao-
vernment was so tardy and detective, that timber
demanded in January, 1818, would not be fur-
nished until April, 1820.