The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-26 00:00:00

CUSTOMS ACT-'IHE

the motion of- Sir 'R. PEEL, the House re-
solved itself into a Committee of the whole House on
the Customs Act.

Several items were agreed to without change.
On the resolution relative to the duty on bacon
and ham, being read,-
Mr. MILES said he wished to direct the attention
of the House to the effect of a differential duty upon
ham between the colonies and the United States.
They might look for a great importation 'of salt meat
from the United States, and in that case, coming by
New Orleans, the freight would be Is. 6d. and the duty
Bs. per cwt., making altogether 9s. 6d.; if the Ameri-
can, however wished to import it through the Canadas,
the freight would be 4s. Id. and the duty 2s. 6d.
making altogether Cs. 7d. per cwt. In the case of
bacon and hams, .the duty, if taken directly
from America, would be 145.; if from the Canadas •
only 3s. 6d. ; the same freight would be applicable
wh-ether taken .by the river to New Orleans
or down Lake Erie. So a hundred weight of hams,
if sent to New Orleans, would pay ls. 6d. freight
and 14s. duty, altogether 15s. 6d. If, however,
sent through the canal and -by Lake Erie, it
would be 4s. freight and 3s. 6d. duty, making
altogether 7s. 6d., so there would he a difference
of Bs. in favour of transporting through the Canadas
rather than by the natural channel. He had risen
just to submit this to the House; he thought it
worthy the attention of the Right Hun. Baronet as
relating to the subject of differential duties.
Sir It. PEEL said, that of the two doctrines an-
nounced by. the Noble,Lprd opposite (Lord Howick)
and by an lion. Gentleman last night, the one, of
imposing no new differential duties on the produc-
tions of the Colonies when imported into this coun-
try, the other, of placing the Colonies in this respect
on a footing with the rest of the empire, as if an inte-
gral portion of it, he certainly preferred the latter.
Mr. LAI3OUCTIERE said that there was a com-
mercial body in Canada, as well as an agriculturalri
one, whose interests ought to be attended to
considered the baon which was bestowed would
be
diminished, if ,the,Government refused to .allow the
importation of provisions across the borders into
Canada from America. Provisions might then come
into this country at a lower rate, and it would have a
tendency to increase-the commercial relations between
both countries.
Mr. GI. A.DSTONE did not think the proposed I
duty could facilitate fraud by the importation ofAme-
rican produce through the Colonies.
After a few words from Mr. S. WORTLEY,
Lord HOWICK thought her Majesty's Govern-
ment ought to extend the principle, and impose
a duty on all bacon introduced into .Canada
from the United States of America. If they
adopted the principle of differential duties, they
must throw a difficulty in the way of inter-
course, between the United States and Canada, or they
must by a complex system introduce what was really
United States' bacon under cover of being Canadian
bacon, at a lower rate of duty than if it came by its
natural channel. Instead of fixing a duty, as now
proposed, of 14s. on the bacon of foreign countries, and
as. 6d. on that of the colonies, he would ask whether it
would not be more reasonable to adopt tClower.atid
intorraediate rate
.ofiduty, which would be appli-