The Sun.
London, England, 1820-07-12 00:00:00

TI BER 'fRAI)E.

The Marquess of LINSDiivIN wished to know
whether it was intended by his Majesty's' Minis=
tors to take any'step before the'prorogation, or
railier, as understood;
_the adjournment, with
regard to the Timber Trade ? It was the opinion
6ffite Committee, froth which, _as Chairman, •lie
had a few days since delivered a Report, that
Borne measure should be adopted for the purpose
of lessening-the Duties ,upon Timber imported
fromtheßaltic, or of raising those upon the Tim-
ber imported `from Canada ; so that, for the pre.
gent, the, advantage of the value Of freight and
transport should be given to the Canada Mer-
chant to place'hirri on a footing with the merchant
trading to theßaltic.
The. Earl of LIVERPOOL ' said, that nothing
could be -lone - till next Session, as' the House of
comm Ons Committee on Trade had not yet con-
sidered this branch of= the subject. He agreed
that something should be done in behalf of the
Baltic Trade-; but aS. encouragement had been
given to the Timber Trade with Canada, at a
time when, there-was a- danger of our wanting
some most -essential articles, he thought that
what was proposed Was perfectly just, that- the
Canada Merchants-should have' the advantage of
.thi-!. value of freight and tranqort ; he wished)
hoWeV'er, tO leave open the consideration, whether
a gradual reduction of the duties on Baltic Tim-
ber 'might, not better effect the purpose in view.
Lord ELLEI4BOROII6II. protested against any
permanent tystettt which'should artificially plaCe
the' trade with a...distant:and a nearenqUarter of
the world upon the same- footing. He thought,
however,"that as nothing could • be- done till the
next Session, Ministers might; in the mean time,
male the question- a mattef:of negociation,- with
the Northern VOwerS:, particularly. the-Siive.reign
of:Sweden and Norway,. with the view of obtain,
some equivalent fel. the adviMiage whiCh
'wool([ he given to them.by -ourplacing the Tim-
ber Trade with that.quarter upon the same- foot-
tng with that to. Canada:
-The Earl of LAUDERDALE objected to this
'course, contending; that-if we waited for other
powers no advantageous step with regard to trade
could be' taken ; but: on the other-hand, those
powers would soon understand their own interest,
If they found that 'their -commodities could only
be taken- by being paid' for with our manufac-
tures.

Lord ELLENBOII OUGH said, he did not mean
that any measure to be' adopted here should de-
pend upon the conduct of Foreign -Powers,, but
that. in the interval bkween this and the next
Session some effort should be made to negociate.
His Lordship-asked a question respecting-duties
imposed at Ceylon upon the importation of' Bri-
tish manufactures, which amounted nearly to a
prohibition.
The Earl BATHURST observed, that when the
advantages alluded to were girieti to the Canada
trade upon grounds of pUblic expediency, it was
distinctly understood that those . advantages
should not be permanent. When, however;as
at the present moment, 700 ships were employed
in- that trade, -.navigated by 8,000 seamen, it
would undoubtedly be highly inexpedient to re-
Kurt on a sudden to any measure. which should,
tend to tbroiv theta out of employment. The
Ceylon ' duties alluded' to by the Noble Lord
Were under consideration. •

The Marquess of LANSDOWN objected to any
permanent system of placing trade with a distant
and a nearer quarter of the world upon an equal
footing, and thought a gradual reduction of du-
ties as impolitic, as it would tend to glut the
market by a forced trade, before the measure was
to take place. Ile however agreed, that under
the circumstances, the advantage of the value of
freight and transport should be given to the
Canada merehant.