The Sun.
London, England, 1820-12-30 00:00:00

COMMERCIAL RELATIONS.

It is the duty of a prudent and vigilant States-
man diligently to watch the policy which regu-
lates the conduct of his State, both in its political
and commercial relations with foreign countries,
and to adapt it to the'changiog circumstances of
the times. There are, however, local peat-
.
liaraties which render the adoption of certain
ftaed and unalterable principles necessary to the
-welfare of every State. Such principles must ever
be mainly regarded in every arrangement which
the circumstances of the day may suggest. Of
this nature we consider the principles which gave
rise to our Colonial and Navigation System, and
,the regulations in favour of our agricultural inte-
rests. These are essential to our well-being,
and even existence as an independent State. We
shall therefore always warmly deprecate any vio-
lation of them, and it is with deep regret we have
observed the attempts lately made by interested
individuals to induce his Majesty's Government
to deviate from them, and, in fact, totally to
abandon them. The arguments which have been
used are, it is true, specious and popular, and
they have been enforced with an earnestness which
'might easily be mistaken for conviction of their ac-
curacy and soundness, but to an attentive observer
their fallacy is obvious, as well as the danger
-which would attend the adoption of the measures
which they are intended to support.
We are led into these reflections by the re-
newed efforts of the Northern European Powers,
to effect an alteration in the protecting duties in
.favour of Timber imported from our American
Colonies, and the exertions which have been
made by certain classes of the commercial com-
munity to procure the repeal of the taxes which
have been wisely imposed to protect the home
interests, and particularly the agricultural.
Upon the former topic we shall not at pre-
sent enlarge, as we have on many former oc-
casions laid before our Readers the great na-
tional objects which depend upon our adhering
to the system that cherishes and protects our
Colonies and Shipping ; but on the latter subject
'we shall say a few words, as a Journal, with
whose views and principles it is our lot almost
constantly to differ, has endeavoured to delude
the public, by asserting that certain taxes and
re4;ulations, so far from promoting and advancing
oar agricultural prosperity, have tended to de-
press it, and seriously to injure our manufactur-
ing interests. We allude to the observations of
the Morning Chronicle on the duty on Foreign
Wool, which may possibly have deceived a large
portion of the community, as many have not the
opportunity of collecting facts necessary to the
forming an accurate opinion on the subject, whilst
others are. not disposed to take the trouble of
investigating and understanding the question ;
but those who really comprehend the merits. of
the case, know that the assertion of the Morning
Chronicle, that the ruin of our manufactures has
arisen from the imposition of a duty on wool, is
made in defiance of truth and common sense;
and it is evidently of great importance at the pre-
sent moment, that the question should be set
upan its proper hasis.

The Morning Chronicle asserts, that " the duty
" has- lovre•A the price of English. wools as well
" as of foreign, and that the quantity has accu-
" mulated since the passing of the ta!‹."--,--Our
Readers will be best enabled to judge of the
accuracy of the Morning Chronicle by referring
to results deduced from official documents ; and
we shall lay'before them the'ammints of the aver-
age- annual importation of_ foreign vvool, and • the
average amounts of the value of woollen cloths
exported for various periods, from the beginning
of the last century to .the present time.

It appears that, during the first ten years of the last cen-
tury, the annual are' age importation of Wool was 677,A,251h5.,
and the official value of Woollens exported amounted to
4,G83,5431. On the average of the eight years preceding
the French Revolution, the annual import of Wool was
2,G60,0061b5., and the official value of Wools exported
3,5.34,7041. On the
,average of ten years, from 1808 to 1818,
the annual import of Wool was 12,163,1361 W., and the official
valut-.of Woollens exported but 5,834.9341. Last year (1819),
1,1"0.1 imported, amounted to 16,190,3431b5., and the
official value of Woollens exported to only 5,086,5011.

From this detail two important facts will be
clearly established ; first, that the export of
*Woollen Cloths has been little affected by the
i nmensely increa3ed importation of Wool ; and
secondly, that the immense quantity on hand
had accumulated before " the passing of the tax."
Upon this point we shall allude .to one more
fact, which is drawn from the following account
of Wool imported and Cloth milled in the West
Riding of Yorkshire :
wool Imported.
In idt4

Yards Milled.
15,017,340

1.815 • , 14,98(1,424
1816
1817 , 14,715.711
1818.
1819

Thus the cloth milled in the West Riding of.
Yorkshire, so far from having increased in quan-

tity during the last twenty-two years, has, not-
withstanding the immensely increased import of
wool during that period, actually decreased.
Me Morning Chronicle, after the above asser-
tion, which we hope is completely refuted by
the facts we have adduced, goes on gravely to
assert, " that the loose and hollow texture of
" our low native Wools, requires the close and
" greasy quality of the Foreign Wool to be in-
:4 corporated with them, before a fabric could be
" produced that would be acceptable to the Fo-
" reign market." There are only two simple facts
which militate against the statement, and which
we fear will prove it to be made by a person whol-
ly uninformed on the subject upon which he is
writing ; and these are first, that none of the kind
of wool described by this writer could be
afforded to be mixed in those woollens of
which our export principally consists ; and,
secondly, that the duty in question has
very little affected the importation of the finer
wools, which may be easily conceived, when it
is known that Spain has taken off a duty on the
exportation nearly equal to that we have laid on.
So much for the facts which the Morning (Aro-
nick has adduced to prove " the utter incompe-
tency of the Ministers on the subject of Finance
and Taxation." 'We do not accuse the Morning
Chronicle of wilfully mistating and mistaking
facts ; it may have been imposed upon by inte-
rested individuals. Perhaps the want of correct
information on the effect of the duties it repro-
bates may be pardonable, but we cannot think
the motives which suggested this attack on his
MAJESTY'S Government at all warrantable.—
On great national questions, nothing can be more
reprehensible than to allow party feeling and
undignified personality to influence our opinion
and conduct. With regard to the observations
on Lord SHEFFIELD) they are wholly unworthy
of notice, for the character of this excellent and
patriotic Nobleman is too well known, and the
great services which he has rendered to our Co-
lonial and Shipping Interests, and to the Com-
mercial Community in general, are too justly
appreciated to be lessened by the loose and un-
founded aspersions of the Morning Chronicle.