The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-09 00:00:00

EVIINING SUN

••••••
resignation, according to an Act which, after ten years',
service, entitled him to retire with a certain allowance'.
The Bishop of Barbadoes had served sixteen years, and
he had now placed his resiomation at the disposal of the
Government. At the period of his retirement, he (Lord
Stanley had felt it desirable, as had the Noble Lord who
had held the Secretaryship of the Colonies before him,
to make a more effectual arrangement regarding the'
Episcopal functions of these Colonies, but le was happy
to inform the House that he had made these arrange-
ments with the full approbation of the clerical body
at home, and of the Bishop of Barbadoes
without calling on the country for any increased
sum of money. The salary of the Bishop was 4,0001.
a year, with a retiring allowance of 1,000/. ; there were
two Archdeacons with salaries of 2,0001. a-year each
but they actually received only 1,5001. as they subscribed
receivedsoo /. a -y ta anr
aedadciho h t
ofnr
of
fse ArchdeaconooLfro o
m t
he
cot;
oDemerarany;the who
inten-
tion of the Bill which he intended to lay on the table of
the House was, that three Bishops should be appointed,
that one Bishop should receive 2,500/. a-year, another
three
sum formerly allowed, which he considered too Archdeaconsmuch.land a
third
with 11"5°° 1 600!. ;
a-year- that
t.
each,tile there
einsstheaod should
the
Ho proposed also to add to the clergy in St. Kitt's Sand
in 'Trinidad two Rural Deans, with 500/. alear each.
The whole amount, therefore, would not exceed
the amount at present appropriated to maintain
the Bishop and three Archdeacons ; and they
would have the services of three Bishops, three
Archdeacons, and two rural Deans. He trusted that in
making these arrangements they should obtain an ade-
quate superintendence in the Episcopal department of
these colonies. He thought it right, in justice to the Bilhop
of Barbadoes, to add that though he was entitled to his
full quarter's salary in consequence of a question having
arisen as to the form of his resignation, which was
tendered in August last, yet the Bishop considers his re-
signation to have been given in at that time, and he
(the Bishop of Barbadoes) was content to receive in
lieu of the one thousand pounds to which he might have
been entitled, 250/., the amount of his retiring allowance.
He proposed also to make similar arrangements with
regard to Jamaica. The Bishopric was not vacant, but
a similar provision would be introduced for giving 4,000/,
to the Bishop, and 2,0001. to the Archdeacon. He pro-
posed to take out letters patent for two or more
dioceses, in such a manner that the total sum assigned
would not exceed the six thousand pounds
now appropriated for the maintenance of a single Bishop.
Fie did not anticipate any opposition to the proposition,
and he should conclude by moving for leave to bring in
a Bill on the subject.
Mr. LABOUCHERE seconded the motion.
Leave was then given to bring in the Bill.
COLONIAL CI.T8T01116" DUTI,ES.
The House having resolved itself into a Committee
of the whole House on the Acts relating to Customs'
Duties in the West Indies and North American Colonies,

Mr. GLADSTONE said, that in rising to brie,

under the notice of the Committee a subject of
so much importance it was satisfactory that he
should not have to trouble the House at any
length on the nature of the proposition he was about
to make. It would be in the recollection of
most of those who heard him, that the Right
Honourable Gentleman opposite, the late Presi-
dent of the Board of Trade, had introduced a
plaii to the House to relieve the North American colo-
nies from the weight of the duties levied on them under the
authority of the Imperial Parliament, which plan was felt
by the House to be of the greatest benefit; that would
render it unnecessary for him (Mr. G.) to detain
the House by going over the details of the subject again,.
brought forward as they were with great clearness,.
and with an ability superior Co any to which
he could pretend. He should content himself with
stating the general grounds, and referring to the main
proposition on which he intended to bring the
subject forward. That Right Honourable Gentleman
had shown that the Colonial system between
this country and its dependencies was one of extreme
strictness in a commercial sense. That system
had commenced sixty years ago, and, since the
peace in 1815, material changes had been effected
in their policy with respect to the Colonies. In the year
1822, Lord Ripon, then Mr. Robinson; and again, in
the year 1825, Mr. Huskisson had introduced measures
into Parliament, the object of which was to
alter their colonial policy ; the result 9f which was,
as far as those measures went, completely satis-
factory, and the apprehensions of evil that had been
anticipated had been proved to be void of all
just grounds. The duties which were levied by the au-
thority of the Imperial Parliament, were levied at a rate
which was unjust, either with regard to the interests of
the revenue of the Colonies themselves, or with regard
to the principles which Parliament had laid down with
respect to the regulation of their colonial policy,
and the operation of the system, as it stood
on the statute book, was extremely onerous. He
did not think, that on that occasion, more than
one or two Hon. Members felt disposed to object to the
propositions of the Right. Hon. Gentleman ; but
if any objections existed to the principle of the
plan he would refer the House to the case of our colonies
in the East, where the Crown, acting under the authority
of Parliament, had followed a line of commercial
policy completely different to that which had been pur -
sued with regard to our possessions in the western hemis-
phere. He was not exactly aware whether the same line of
policy was pursued in those countries under therule of the
East India Company, although he believed such was the
case ; but through the British colonial possessions in the,
East, there was not any where a differential duty of more
thanfive, six, or seven per cent. levied for the protection
of British manufactures.. When he considered that
such was the case, and that it was impossible to say
which was the most valuable to the country, the
trade with our Eastern colonial possessions, or
that with our possessions in the West, of such
invaluable importance were both, lie thought
that he had stated sufficient to calm the
apprehensions of those who thought it necessary, ,
on account of British interests, that the present rate'
of duties should be continued in our Western pos-
sessions.—(hear, hear, hear.) When the Hon. Gen-
tleman laid his plan before Parliament last session,
referring, as it did, to a variety of interests, and to
places situated at a distance so great, some gentle-
men felt a difficulty in giving an unqualified assent
to a plan affecting dependencies so • -remote without
having been afforded an opportunity of ascertaining bow.
those propositions would be welcomed by the people of
those dependencies.—(Hear.) For that reason he con-
sidered it a happy circumstance that the measure had
not passed into a law last year, because, from the
time which had elapsed, the bearing of those mea-
sures had become known in our colonies, in the
West Indies, and North America, and those measures
were generally approved of by the inhabitants
of those colonies. The Right Hon. Gentleman in
bringing forward the measure last year had said he
had brought it forward on its own merits, on that
ground he had asked the sanction of the House, and so
far as regarded English interests, which might be
supposed to be prejudicially affected by the measures
proposed, the Right Honourable Gentleman himself,
who was at that time at the head of the Board'
of Trade, and who had, consequently, the -best
opportunities of being acquainted with public feeling
on the subject, had stated on a subsequent discussion
that the measure he had proposed received a larger share
of approbation from the general commercial interest of the
country than any measure that had ever been proposed.
He (Mr. Gladstone) was not going to dispute any of the
principles which the Right Hon. Gentleman then pro-
pounded, but, on the contrary, to recommend to the Com-
mittee the application, to a F w hat larger extent, of cer-

Lain of thos-e-principles. (" Hear," from the Opposition
benches.) Ills (Mr. G's) 'reason for so doing was that he
thought the Eight lion. Gentleman had shobvii7-(he
was not now speaking of the details of particular coin-
missions) that he had been treading in tee course
taken by those who preceded him. The Bight
Honourable Gentleman, therefore, had not trusted to
speculative reasons only. but he had been also able to
point to what had been already done in the relaxation
ofcommercial restrictions. Upon that ground also he
(Mr. G.) asked the support of the House. Ile was fur-
ther disposed to take such a course, because ho thought
that the time which had elapsed since the plan of the
Right Hon. Gentleman had been laid on the table of the
House, no disposition had been shown in any quarter, to
anticipate injury either to British or colonial interests, from
any portion of that plan. Another reason swayed hid
mind to ask the House to go even beyond the proposition
of the Right Hon. Gentleman. If the condition of the
West Indian producer of sugar had been such,
twelve months ago, as to render it advisable
to have him relieved from the restrictions to
which he was subject, much more advisable was it at the
present time. For although that llOuse was naturally and
properly disposed to distrust all complaints on commercial
distress, yet there never was a more real or severe ease
of distress on the part of any producer of com-
modities for the British market than that now
experienced—he would not say by the East Indian
planter, nor by the cultivator in Mauritius, but *by the
absentee proprietor of sugar plantations in the West
Indies, a class which he (Mr. Gladstone) admitted
it was most desirable to diminish. Nothing could give
the West Indies so fair a prospect of maintaining
competition with other portions of the globe (if
they should ever be exposed to competition)
*than the transfer of the estates in those colonies
from absentee proprietors to either resident pro-
prietors, or a resident tenantry ; but he would not
now enter into unnecessary details. Ile only
said .that the distress of the West India proprietor was
very severe, and that he was subject to restrictions in
supplying himself with necessary productions that others
were -nor subjected to. It was most imperative
to afford hio every relief in the removal of those re-
strictions. Re hoped it would be in the power of the
[louse to siinplify the laws in that respect.
The 3d and filth of Wm. IV., cap. 49, had in point
of fact simplified the previous acts on the subject ;
but there were also other laws enacted before
that statute and ethers subsequent to it, whicih
introduced some degree of complication into its
application. It would be necessary then to re-
peal some of those laws and to consolidate the others.
With respect to the changes he was about to propose'
h• would speak first of those changes which " e
by thlh
new in their character,
precedent of the measure of Jest io abolish
should propose -to the Conlin
eitotleoonies
that duty
pon arti-•
any duties which were leviable in
3itliit.a!in.
imposition of that kind atesretseen
ele's being the produce of Grheattlx*o.
abolition
%val.
ofsh theel) criiint
spirits;
not ed to him that their taxation
taxed, but because it appeared
the authority of the p
becata3sneditlei was not proposed the
ttphhilaaeltslillsaPielci
Declaration
wetsiaoharns:nAdodetitblioler
upon
ilt7sslf,,,,cheicshsabr)a-d, abnedewas scarcely compatible with the pro-
misesa: Parliament of Great
In that Act thenlmheldrioalltParliament gave a promise
clhisuty, tax, or assessment
Majesty's Colonies,
1,13 t
aht
eaeiesrh Coloniesopuyda
notbt hlea t thev ottli,isneyna gn9yi