The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-19 00:00:00

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LONDON
THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 19, 1842.

The question mooted by Lord Howicx, on Friday

last, and which seems to have been misunderstood,
't has certainly been misrepresented,. was, whether it
is advantageous, or otherwise, when duties are im-.
osed on foreign commodities, for the sake of a re-
., -enue, to subject similar commodities, the production
, of our colonies, to a less import duty? Lord HowtcK
i?roadly maintained that it is not advantageous ; and,
% therefore, he objected to establishing, by the tariff,
more differential duties, in favour of our colonial pro-
ductions, than now exist. The Ministers maintain
that it is advantageous; and, therefore, they at first

proposed, when they brought forward their tariff, a
4 whole series of such diminished duties. They con-
lune several of them by their amended tariff; and
tczy resisted Lord IlowicK's motion, which was
I.llus worded :
That in making a new arrangement of the Customs'
duties, it is not expedient to impose different rates of
duty upon the same articles when imported from foreign
countries or from British possessions, in any case where
no such ditference now exists ; and that in those cases
in which such a difference already exists, it is not expe
c !ient that that it should be increased."

The Ministers affirmed, then, that it is expedient
to impose different, meaning lower duties, on colonial
articles ; and they persuaded the House of Commons,
which, more fbolish than sheep, runs into danger
Ivhithersoever its bell-wether leads, to affirm that ex••
pediency by a large majority.
The Tories in Parliament, and the Toriesl.ou out of
Parliament, roar out in chorus—" You N
the colonies as foreign countries, we would treat them
.as integral parts of the empire; and the lower and more
.numerous we can make such discriminating duties, the
:Inure we approximate the colonies to ourselves, and the

Imore we make their trade with the mother country a

:home trade, a trade completely under our control,
:and'the more we promote the welfare of both States."
It that be the true principle, why do they not apply

it to the Mother country itself? If it be good to
.cncourage the growth of tobacco in the IVest and
-1.:1-tst Inches; by a discriminating duty, it must be also
g -,11 to encourage the growth of tobacco at home by
nilar diwaiminating(luties. But what has the Le-
datUre done ? It has absolutely prohibted the
,Towth of tobacco in Ireland, and passed a law to
root it out. The very same f'act is true of sugar. A
ruin wishel to manufacture sugar in Ireland,
and put the duty paid on foreign sugar into his pocket ;
the Legislature forbad him. But while it is so cruel
to our own people—while it will not allow them to
p:oduce an article which they might produce at the
price of that article in the market as raised by the
duty, if they had not to pay the duty on it which
is
imposed on the foreigner,—it permits the colonists,
nay, it invites the colonists, to put a part of
all such
duties into their pockets, at thz.. expense of the duty-

paying people of England. Iri iftic , •aful Unhappily,
our people have submitted with site"! unexampled pa-
tience to the continued extortions of the tax-gatherer,
that the Tories have no conception that they commit
any wrong, however much they may fleece them, to
promote any idle scheme which that " insidious and
crafty animal," as Dr. SMITH says, " vulgarly called
a statesman," may take into his head.
The instances of tobacco, and of sugar, set in a
clear light the principle on which the Legislature acts.
It imposes the duty on foreign commodities for the
sake of a revenue, thereby it raises the price of thos;-,
commodities in the market, and it will not permit its
own subjects in England and Ireland, who can grow
or manufacture those commodities, to bring a grain of
them into the market without paying an equal duty
with the foreigner. Why, then, should the colonists,
,ii if we consider them to be on the same footing
as the English and Irish, not, like them, pay the sam-,,
duties ? Is there any reason why they should be
allowed to diminish the public revenue, by bring-
ing their commodities into our market at a less
rate of duty than foreigners ? The practice, un-
doubtedly, has been to act on the Tory principle ; and
coffee, sugar, and timber, each of which extracts large
sums from the consumer here, which never reaches,
the public Treasury, are examples of the pernicious
effects of so acting. The Tories admit, in all these
cases, that they have acted erroneously, and they
only abstain from applying the same principle, of re-
ducing discriminating duty, to sugar, as they now pro-
pose to apply it to timber, by considerations extrinsic
from those of revenue and the encouragement of pro-
duction,

The objection to all such duties is, that they tax
the consumer to the full amount of the discriminating
duty, in order to encourage the trade of the colony.
If the Legislature be bound to promote that, it is
equally bound to promote the welfare of the people at
home ; and every farthing it gives to the colonies
hy such discriminating duties, it takes from the
pockets of our own people. If cheeke imported.from
Canada, and cheese imported from Holland, he of
equal goodness, the cheese will fetch the same price
in the market. - The consumer will give 60s2a cwt.,
whether" he buy Canadian or Dutch cheese ; but the
latter, according to Sir PEr,es tariff, will have to
pay 10s. 6d. to the revenue, while the former will have
to pay only 2s. The tax, as long as we consume any
Dutch cheese, raises the price of all cheese sold in the
market I Os. a cwt., and the consumer will consequently
have to pay Bs. a cwt. on all colonial cheese which only
pap,; 2s. duty. That Bs. will go into the pockets of
the Canadian cheese maker, and to that extent he is
benefited at the expense of the English consumer. It
becomes a bounty to the manufacture of cheese in the
colony. What is true of the, discriminating duty on
cheese is true of every discriminating duty. It arti-
ficially directs labour into that channel which is not
naturally the most profitable, otherwise it would flow
thither of its own accord.
The system of discriminating or differential duties,
is only the old system of bounties in disguise. Govern-
ment undertakes to promote particular production,
and direct farmers in the colonies how they shall
employ their capital. Bounties, however, come from
the pockets- of the tax-payers ; Government has at
funds of its own. It unjustly takes something from
some of its subjects, partially and fitvourably to give
to others. The Ministers who .at this time act on that
system have not yet learned the A B C of that great
social science—the production and distribution of
wealth, on which, above all other sciences, depends
the well-being of the community.
At the same time, it must be admitted, that those
who tax the consumer to give a bounty on the pro-
duction of wheat at home, only follow out their own
principle, when they tax the produce of wheat in Eng-
land, to give a bounty on the production of cheese in
Canada. Their whole system is based on taxing each
class in turn for the benefit of some other class, and
making all believe, when they have taxed all, that all
are benefited. Such a system requires a perpetual re-
adjustment of the tariff; such as Sir R. PEEL is
now about to try his hand at ; and it would be prefer-
able gradually to alter it, on the principle laid down
by Lord HowicK, and allow the prices of all com-
modities, and the profits of every trade, to be wholly
and entirely regulated—abolishing all discriminating
duties—by the " higgling of the market."

A more sound feeling with regard to foreign loans_
fortunately prevails in this country at the present
time than at any former period, and as that has been
caused by sad experience, it is likely to continue.
Thousands have been crippled in their •resources—
many utterly ruined, by lending money to bankrupt
States, , or to States that are able, but unwilling,
to pay their just debts; and our loan contractors have
theretbre found public opinion so strong against these
instances of bad faith as to prevent them even from
attempting to negotiate new.loans for unprincipled
Governments anxious to get still deeper into debt. The
question now is, will that feeling act as an effective
check to the loan which the Government of the
United States is about to contract ? If we
judge from the tone of the public press, the question
may bet answered in the affirmative. Scarcely one
journal takes a favourable view of the sub
ject, and some even go so far as to assert
that no house in the City, however pow-
erful, would dare to take upon itself the
responsibility of introducing American Scrip to
the notice of their fellow-citizens, under existing cir-
cumstances. We are glad to see this new morality,
for not many months ago, some who denounced in
such strong terms American Scrip were very
favourably disposed towards a new loan to a country
that in all probability will never pay either
principal or interest—namely, Spain. The United
States certainly are not in such a desperate condition
as that country; the Government we believe are quite
honest in their promises to pay interest, and refund
the principal at the stated period; but till the
Executive and the Legislature obtain more power
and influence over the separate States of the
Union, we should-consider the credit of the Federal
Government of a very doubtful character. The peo-
ple of Great Britain have lost vast sums by loans to
some of the States and public bodies; the money has been
expended in improving the country, in making canals,
railroads, bridges, and other great works ; yet some
of the separate Legislatures have repudiated these loans,
and left-the unfortunate creditors to shift for them-
selves. The object of this new loan is to get money
from other people, and save the citizens of the United
States from additional taxation ; and, among others,
those very States which have, refused to pay
their just debts. If the representatives of
certain States can thus evade payment with.
impunity, if they remain unmoved either by
the virtuous exhortations of President TYLER, or of
the Presidents of the respective Legislatures, what
security is there that the people, finding the interest
of the new loan rather burdensome, will not return a
majority of Members of Congress pledged to repudiate
also the Federal debt ? There is no security but
national honour and morality, and these, when trusted
to in Spain, in South America, and even among a
people of our own kindred and language, have been
found but little better than broken reeds. Borrowing
is not the way either to better their condition, or
raise their credit. 'We wish well to the people
of the United States ; they have long been
good customers of this country ; the prosperity
of one nation -is intimately connected with that of
the other ; and therefore, in the most friendly disposi-
tion, we advise them to reform their conduct, to live
within their means, pay their just debts,- and estab•
lish their credit on a sure footing ; and after that,
should • they want a loan for any national under-
taking, they will find no one so ready and willing as
JOHN Bum, to assist them.

There is but little news in the French Journals. A
rumour prevailed that the Chamber of Peers would
the
following
remarks
not adopt the Railway Bill i •
n its present form, to
which, however, we
raatuctaa haso importance.
atis
tach no
oulthhee suppression
iesr Fon of the Temps, as announced in our
columns of yesterday :
" The whole Press is thrown into commotion by an
event which is without precedent in France, Or example
in any other country. One of the most inoffensive of
the Opposition Journals, a Journal which for some
months WaS inclined towards the Ministry—the Temps.
—has, through the persons of its two responsible
editors, been condemned to pay fines amounting. to
93,000 f., which, with the war decime, makes a total of
102,000 f. This exorbitant penalty. is equivalent to a
confiscation of the whole of the caution-money. In ad-
dition to this the Correctional Tribunal has ordained that
the Temps shall cease to appear. Thus a confiscation of
the caution-money and the suppression of the Journal arc
the consequences of a prosecution for a mere simple

offence, against a paper which was not hostile to the
Government. What may be expected by ,Journals which
have a more open -and decided character of opposition ?
The National has observed that the tribunal has only
applied the minimum of the penalties, and that if the
Judges had gone to the full extent of their power, they
might have condemned the Temps to pay 231,500 f. The
judgment, therefore, is • lenient, and, as it seems, in con
comity with the law. This, is, however, a• wound of
great complaint against the existing laws regulating the
press. Is it not extraordinary, is it not monstrous, that
a Journal should be liable to incur, for contraventions or
omissions purely fiscal, pecuniary fines ten times greater
than those which could be imposo upon it for a libel
against the King, or an attack on the Constitution ?"
On Monday afternoon the Chamber of Deputies
voted the Sugar Bill for another' year. The beet-
root growers are therefore safe for the present.
Some of the Paris Journals return to the Right of
Search question, which serves for a handle for abusing
England. We are so accustomed to such abuse that
we have grown quite reconciled to it. Abuse is.a
tribute paid by one nation to the greatness. of another.
The alarm created by the railway accident has
subsided in Paris, the number of passscngers by the
same line being nearly as great as before.
The Toulonnais mentions a rumour that it is in con-
templation to discharge from the navy all such of the
sailors as have been two veers in service.

The Armoricain of Bre*St states that, after the delivery
of the despatches conveyed to the French Consul at Tan-
jiers by the squadron which arrived there from Lisbon,
the Grondeur steamer proceeded to Oran, leaving the
.Jena. and Africaine waiting for instructions from the
Governor of Algeria.
These vessels, after the departure of the Grondeur,
cruised between Tanjiers and Oran, and had gun exer-
cise daily. It was the noise of this tiring which gave
rise to the report of the bombardment of Tanjiers, which
was current at Tarifa.

The packet Leonidas, which arrived at Marseilles on
the 11th of May, has brought letters from Constanti-
nople of the 27th, and from Alexandria of the 26th of
April.
Letters in the Sud de Marseilles say, that it was re-
ported at Constantinople that the Five Powers are satis-
fied with the promises of the Porte to recta Omer Paella,
when an opportunity shall present itself, and after the
investigation of Selim Bey, the Comthissioner sent by
thn Porte.
A letter from Alexandria., of the 26th or April, says,
" There is a report of the passage (if English troops : it
is affirmed that the question is under discussion at Con-
stantinople between the Porte and the English Ambassa-
dor. 'We have no other. news from Syria. The English
Consul has just dispatched the English steamer, the
Cyclops, to Beyrout, which was stationed here. It is
said that it has taken despatches of importance, brought
yesterday from Constantinople by the French packet
Lycurgue.—Cornmerce.
BOURSE—PARIS, MONDAY, MAY 16.

lust Highest Lowest Last
Price Price. Prit... Prier,.
'rencti 5 per cents ll9 55 ... 119 70 ... 1-9 5i ... 119 70
4 per Ceritti. ... 102 ... 102 ... 102 ... 102
3 per Cents ' 8445 El 83 ... SI 70 ... 81 80
al,. of clause
Irt di tte Frank 5,004. EN arcs f.,0411 ...5060 . .5C60 ...SOSO
teivian Mini;
Belgian 5 per Cents.
5 ;•er Cent!., 1840 1051,'.; ... 105 ... 10' % ... 105%
ipanish Active 24% ... •:4, ... 24 ,4 ... ,245,
Passive 4l' ... 4% ... 4% ... 4%
l'ortuguez, 5 per cent,. -•.:: ... 3?. ... 3:14 ... 31%
grapoittan
..__. *" ..__ ••• ........ •••

allsian
. 103% .. 103 k
.... 143% ... 103 h
RAILWAY SHARES.
.;t,. Germain ... 822 50 ... 825 ... 822 50 ... 825
:...ailica.tt. p.
L.B 161) ... 163 7i ... 160 ... 162 51
Ruler, 5:3 75 ... 55i 73 ... 553 75 ... 551 %5
Orleans
Saatburg to Bale 212 50 ... 2 3 75 ... 232 50 ... 233 75

URI MARY OF NEWS

AND
ptibitc eptirton.

" Who runs may read."

V ers
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