Star.
London, England, 1807-08-18 00:00:00

PICTUALUNG OFFICS, efssg. IS. .807.
THE COMMISSIONERS for PICTU4LLING

HIS MdY SPIT': ismpr, du berth rive maw.

That on Fri lay the aStit infizat, they will be ready to receive
Tenders, in writing, Irak(' up, and treat for THREE HUN-
DRED CHALDRONS (each conflifing of ;6 Bufheh Whir-baler
bileafure) of PI FT's TANFI ELD MOOR COALS, or COALS•
of equal goodnefs; to be delivered in a whole Cargo or Cargoes,
by the 3oth of September next, alongfide the Wharf of his Ma-
jetty's Vitftualllng Pretnifes at Plymouth, and Southdown ; and
to be paid for by Bills payable with intercß ninety days after date.
The Conditions of the Contract may be ken at the Secretary's
Office.

No regard will be bad to enly Tender hr which the pri,:e /wit Not be
iaferted is word, at Garth, or that jesid trot II a delivered to the Board
icfere ou i deli, .a the faid Friday, the 18th inifamt, oar wadi
tit P,,foe who wain the Tealsr.•• fines ?afro ws hit behalf &Heal to
emitter when called for.

PICTUALLINU OPFICP, Asirll 17, 1107.
THE COMMISSIONERS for VICTUALLING

HIS MAY ES77"S NAVY, do forsay slit sous,
That on Tuefday the Ift of September next, they will be ready
ca weeive Tenders in writing, (fealed up) and treat for Two Hun-
dred Tons of genuine OATMEAL; to be delivered one Hundred
Tons into His Majefty's Virltualling Stores at Portfmouth, and
the remaining One Hundred Tons into tb6fe at Plymouth ; one
half thereof in one month, and the other half in a month after-
wards, and to b, paid fee by Bills payable with intereft ninety
days after date.
The Couditiors of the Contradt may be km at the Secretary's
0 crice. _ .

record trill 6: ha :l to any Tender in tobkb tie price jball act be
in,. in worth at letzth, or that AIN not be delivered to the Board
before et the faid Trefilay the 111 of Sepenhier next, nor walls
the Perrin trim wakes the Tender, or fosse perfics on his iebalf attends
• axitier :viten cailid for.

FINEDON ESTATE.
THE Pttbrc are informed, that the Farm fitnate
at Finedon, in the County of Northampton, advertifed to
be Sold by Audlion on Thutfday, the aoth day of Auguft inftant
la Sold by Private eontradt.—Augult Is, 18C7.

REPORT.

The Committee who were appointed to take into eoulideration
the Commercial Sate of the Weft India Colonies, and to report
their proceedings, from time to time, to the Houfc of Commons
and who were empowered to report the minutes of evidence
taken before them; and to whom all minutes of evidence which
were taken before the Committee on the tall SelG•itt of Parlia-
ment, on the Weft India Planters Petitions, together with their
proceeding', were referred, have, purfuant to the order of the
Houle, examined the matters to them referred ; and have agreed
to tits following Report:—
Your Committee have thought it their duty in the
firff place, to enquire into the fituation of the Welt
India Planters at the prefent moment, and for fcve-
ral yeaks preceding, and have examined various re-
fpeetable witntffes, proprietors of eltates, who have
refided many years in the Welt Indies, and who have
bad the properties of feveral abfentees under their
management ; and alfo many merchants intimately
acquainted with the expences and profits of a great
variety of Oates, and generally converfant with the
Weft India commerce. From their teal:wry it ap-
pears, that fince the year 1799 there has taken place
a progreffive deterioration in the fituation of planters,
refulting from a progreffive diminution of the price
of fugar, although at the fame time the duty, end all
the eepence.s attending the cultivation, have been in•
crating, till atlength the depreilion of the market has
become fuch, that the pricesobtained forthe laft year's
...op will not pay the expence of cultivation, except
upon elates on a very great fcsle, making fugar of a
very fuperior quality, or Srijnying otherextraordinary
advantages. Calculatiors have been laid before your
Comrrioee. from the accounts of Oates both in Ja.
maica and the other iflands, by which it appears that
the Brilifh fupplies and ifland expences amount to
2CS. 10(1. in the firmer, and to 19s. 63. in the latter,
on the cwt. of Inger, after accounting and giving
credit for the am 'tint received from the fele of
Rum. As thefe calculations are formed upon an
average of years, and upon dates of the ordinary
kale, and in no refpeets nnufualiy circumtlanced, it
appears to your Committee, that there fums per
cwt. of fugar may be taken as the average expence
of cultivation, independent of interett upon the ca-
pital ; and your Committee are cnnfirmed in this
opinion by finding a limilar calculation in the Re-
pnrtmade by the Sugar Mink' y Committee, in the
elan Pa.liimenr. To this mutt be added an expence
of from r ss. 61 to t6s. per c.vt. necelfarily incurred
for freight, infurance, and other mercantile charges,
. between the shipping the goods in tile colonies, and
their being offered to market in this kindom, forming
together an amount of from 3;s. to 365. which ap-
pears, np, n this evidence, to be the abfolute colt
of the planer, per cwt. fugar, hefore any return
of capital can attach. Upon a reference to the eve-
s rage pt ices publifhed in the Gazette for the lett eight
enoutloo which vary from 365. to 315. giving a mean
price ni Kio id. it appears et ident that the planters
ttttult hove.cultivated their ellaces at a his.
The iiiterett which has been Rated to your Com-
mittee as what (broad he the fair profit upon a capital
01 loch a nature as that of a fugar eflate, confining
not merely of land and Negroes, but of buildings of
great extent oti'd colt, neceifiry for the carrying on of
ftich a manufeEfure, and fobjekt to various and pects-
and *anodes, is not id's than to per cent.
During the period of praperity previous to iBOO,
it is Rated, that, in Feineral, the profits did not exceed
that fum and that, from th.tt period, they have
gradually diminithed to 2..1 and ti per cent. till at
the plefe.nr moment, there is no return of intereft
whatever. •
It may perhaps be tight to notice one exception,
namely, of an ellate moil favourably circumnanced
in every reflo et, where the profits are Rated to have
amounted durtno the four years 1795, 1796, 1797.
. and 1793, to : e per cent. but they appear alfo to
have declined ever fince ; in 18ot, 'Sue, 003, and
18c4., to have been reduced to about 6 per cent. and
in iSes, to about 3 per cent. and fubtequently to
have futrered :a 1101 further re,hglion.
In the co.ofe of their invelligation of the fituation
of the planter:, your Committee thought it right to
alcertain whether it might not be in their own power,
in many inltances, to remedy the evils of their fitua.
lion, by converting their fugar ages to other more
or. fit sole cultivation ; but the evidence on that point
thaws that fuch a convection mutt be attended with

re great a faerifiee of capital, rag ao be out of the
question as a meafure of telief.
With a view to the profpea of the future, they have
obtained a return of the quantity of fugar at prefent
in the Welt India Docks ; from which and from
other evidence, it appears, that the quantity now on
hand is unufually great for the time of year. The
crop of laft year is alfo on the point of coming into
the market.
It should not be omitted fart;cr to Rate, that for
many years part the Elands have aimed entirely ef-
cafed the natural calamities of hurricanes, &c. which
have °cull:many proved deftruaive to the property
in thole countries. •
let inveftigating the miles of that depreflion of the
market, from whence the whole of the Planter's dif-
trefs appears to originate, the firft objet which ftrikes
your Committee, is, that extraordinary fituation in
which he is placed, which prevents him alone (in ex-
ception to every other fimilar cafe) from indemnify-
ing himfelf for the increaft of duty, and of other ex-
rocs' attending his cultivation, by an equivalent
increafe of price to the confumer. For it appears,
that fence the year 1799, the duty on fugar has been
raifed from 205. to 275. and contingently to 305. per
hundred weight ; the axpences of the ettates are cal-
culated to have rifen in snany articles fifty, and in
others above one hundred per cent. ; and the price has
fallen from 691. to 335. 6d. per cwt. the average of
the hilt eight months. As it appears obvious, from the
above flatement, that the duty is heavier than the arti-
icle can bear at its prefent price, it is fuggefted that it
might be expedient,lGr the relief of the home market,
to extend the principle which has been adopted on the
contingent increale of duty from 275. to 305.; In that
fr 411 the maximum of duty then fixed, on a profs price
of Bos. affording 3os. duty, and sos. to the Planter,
the duty fhould be thrown back on a fimilar fcale in
proportion to the depiction of the market, till the
price arrives at 6os. grofs, leaving 2os. (the original
duty), to Government, and 40;. to the Planter; or,
in other word!, a redudion Di is. duty on a redudion
of as. grofs price, from the average then fixed for the
impofition of the new duty, as far as 205.
A confiderable depreciation in the price of rum
having alfo taken place, it has been fuggetted, that
the enc iuragement of the confumptiint of that article
would be a confiderable advantage to the Planter.—
Your Committee are aware that fuch encouragement
has been given, to a certain extent, but if it were
found pradicable to carry that allitiance further, by
an increafed coniumption in the Army and Navy.
fuch a meaftire would, in their opinion, have very
beneficial effects ; or a recludion of duty on ruin
might afford elfential relief to the Planter, without
lots to the revenue, which would be indemnified by
an increafed consumption of that fpirit.
Great, however, as are the evils of the decreafe of
price and increafe of charges, it does not appear to
your Committee that they are the original caufes of
the difirefs of the Planter, by applying to which alone
any practicable remedy he could be more than par
tinily relieved; but that the main evil, and that to
which there are ultimately to he referred, is the very
unfavourable date of the foreign market, in which
formerly the Britila merchant enjoyed nearly a mo-1
nopoly, but where he cannot at prefent enter into
competition with the Planters, not only of the neutral,
but of the holtile colonies. The refult of all their
inquiries on this molt important part of the fubjeet,
have brought before their eyes one grand and pri-
mary evil, from which all the others are eafily to be
deduced; namely, the facilay of intercourse between
the hoftile Colonies and Europe, under the Ameri-
can neutral flag, by means of which not only the
whole of their produce is Carried to a market, but at
charges little exceeding thole of peace ; while the
Britifh Planter is burtliened with all the inconveni-
ence, risk, and expence,refulting from a liate of war.
The advantages which the hr.firle Colonies derive
from the relaxation of that principle, which prohibted
any trade from being carried on with the enemy's co•
lorries by neutrals during war, which the enemy him.
felf did not permit to thofe neutrals during peace,
may be in part ellimated by reference to a tiatement
of the imports into Amfterdam alone from the United
States of America, in !the year iBo6, amounting to'
34,085 hhds. of coffee., and 43,097 hhds. of fugar,
conveyed in art veffels, hereunto annexed ; and to
a fiatement alfo annexed, of the amount of Welt In
dieproduce, exported from the United States of
America, between the tft Odtober, rfiog, and 30th
September, 'BO6. In point of comparative exilence
the advantages of the hoftile Colonies will he further
illuarated by the evidence of Mr. Marryat, firm) oted
by farisfadory documents, which Phew the charges
of freight and infutance on fugar from the hoftile Co-
lonies, through the United States of America, to the
ports of Holland and Flanders, and to thole of the
Mediterranean, to be lefs by 8.. t td. to the former,
and by i 2s. 6d. to the latter, than thofc charges on
Britifh fug Ars to the fame ports.
Your Committee cannot omit to Rate alto another
important advantage enj yed by the Freak Colonies,
;ailing from the file of nearly the whole French mer-
cantile marine to Neutrale, under the ftipulatinn of
each veffel being returned into French ports, in order
to be navigated as French (hips, within 12 months
after peace, and with the enjoyment during war, of
the fame privileges in the ports of France, as if they
were adually French ; for inftance, to import fugar
at a duty of 4s. per cwt. lefs than the duty imposed
on fugar imported in neutral veffels.
In order to counterbalance, in fume degree, the
advantages thus enj ,yed by the hollile Colonies, to
the detriment of the British Planter, it has been re.
commended, that a blockade of the ports of the ene-
my's fettlements should be reforted to--Inch a mea-
lure, if it could be. aridly enforced, would undoubt
edly afford relief to our export trade.
But a meafure of more permanent aid certain ad-
vantage would be the enforcement of thole refiritlions
on the trade between Neutral's and the enemy's co
looks, which were formerly maintained by Great
Britain, and from the relaxation of which the
enemy's colonies obtain indiredly, during war, all
the advantages of peace ; while our own colonies,
in the intercourfe with whom that fyilem of mono-
poly which has been held effential to the commercial
and military navy of this country is tigoroufly en-
forced, and deprived of the advantages under which
in former wars tkey carried their produce to the
foreign markets, and which, in the prefent war, by
means of our decided naval fuperiority, would have
amounted to the exclufive fupply of the whole of
Europe ; and when thofe extraordinary meafures are

taken into confideration which have been adopted,
to exclude the Britith Colonial produce from the
European.matket, it appears to your Committee to
he a matter of evident and imperious neceflity to re-
fort to loch a fyllem, as by impeding and reftriaing,
and as far as poll-IWe, preventing the export of the
produce of the enemies colonies from the places of
its growth, fhall compel the Continent to have re
coolie to the only fource of fupply, which, in that
event, would be open to it.
As it may be apprehended that from the adoption
of fuch meafures, difficulties might arife in that in-
tercourfe, from which the Welt Indies at prefent
derive a confider able proportion of fome cf their
fupplies, your Committee have thought it their duty
to make inquiry into the refources in that refpea to
which recount might be had in filch an event.—
During the only period which affords an example of
the fulpenfion of that intercourfe, the evidence con-
curs as to the fad of a lupply having been obtained
(though not without temporary and occalional incon-
veniences) from a variety of foutces which may rea-
fonably be relied upon in cafe of fuch neceffity, at
the prefent moment, to a greater amount than at
the former period. From the examination of perfons
who, in confequence of their refidence In the Britith
North American Settlements, or extenfive commer.
cial conne6lions with them, poffefs tire heft informa-
tion as to their prefent and future refources, there is
good ground to believe that Come fupply of the'
principal articles of lumber might be obtained from
i thence immediately, and to expe& that with due en-
couragement, the quantity of that fupply might be
inct eafed to any extent.
The fupply of flour which they could at prefent
afford to the Wei India market would be finall, and
of inferior quality. They appear to be capable of
affording a large fupply of 11th, and what deficiency
might exiit in other articles of falt provifions, might
be made up by fupplies from Europe.
Upon the whole, the impreffion which your Corn-
mittee have received is, that the trade now carried
on between the Britifh Welt Indies and the United
States of Americ t, is very convenient and advance.
genus to the inhabitants of our colonies, and one
which they could not relinquifh without elfential de •
triment, unlefs it was comoenfated by other advan.
cages ; but that it is not effential to their exittence,
or equivalent to the difadvantages of their fituation,
in thole reipees; which your C mmittce hive alteady
gone through in the prefent ftatement.
Your Committee having briefly flared the diffreffed
fituation of the Weft India Planter, the calif-es which
have gradually produced his dittrets, which are be-
pond his reach to remedy, and which mull continue
to operate with increafed effect; and having Rated
inch meafures of relief as have been fuggelled to them,
and fuel' as, from the belt fources of information,
appear moll: adequate to the end in view, have only
to add, that if thofe remedies are liable to objeltions
and difficulties, there is on the other hand the Itrongeft
concurrent teftimony and proof, that wilds fome
fpeetly and efficient meafures of relief are adopted,
the ruin of a great number of the Planters, and of
perfons in this country holding annuities, and other-
wife dependent upon thole properties for their income,
mull inevitably very ((ion take place, which mull be
Followed by the lots of a vaft capital advanced on
recurities in thole countries, and by the moll fatal
injury to the commercial, maritime, and financial
atterells of Great Britain.

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON. •

TUESDAY, AUGUST IS.
PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY ATONE O'CLOCK
Conf. money 64t—for Auguft 641—Red. 614—•
Oran. par. t ilit—Exch Bills par. zs.dif.

We have the pleafure to (late that the St. Eliza-
beth, Lovszt. ; and the Union, GARDNER, from Ja-
maica, are arrived at Evilly! : they parted from the
A:et on Friday lag, the t4th int. at 5 A. M. all well;
off the welt coact of Ireland.

From letters by the Lifbon Mail received yeller-
day, it feems that a report was in circulation at Lifbon
of the recapture of Buenos Ayres, by the Btitilh
troops. This event is faid to have taken place on the
29th of May. So far as refpeds the date on which it
hal petted, this term teems zo be incorred, as our
lalt intelligence from that quarter is of a fubfequent
date. It ought to be tecolleded, however, that the
accounts of the recapture of Buenos Ayres by the
Spaniards came originally from Lifbon, and on that
occalion alto the dates then given were ultimately
proved to have been incorreet.
The packet which brought the above reports from
Lifbon, left that place on the ad intl. The following
is an extra& from the letter of a Correfpondent at
Lifbon on the fubje&

" LISBON, AUGUST a.

66 I have written by.the Mail, bt.e. fince the bags
have been made up, accounts have been received,
and generally credited, from St. Helena and Rio de
Janeiro, that.Bnenot. Ayres had ferrendered to the
Englifh. Another Ihip is come in from Rio Janeiro,
and brings accounts of Lima being taken by the
Engh(h."

We have received Paris Papers to the 9th, and
Dutch to the 13th infant.

The fate of Portugal, it would feem, has been finally
decided :at St. Cloud. General JUNO; the Governor
of the City of Paris, has been nominated to command
the army of 4.0,0c0 men, cr•lleeted at Bayonne, for
the fubjtigation of Portugal.
JUNOT is invened with a diplomatic, as well as a
military charafter. The only objeB in view is Paid
to be the [hutting out the trade of Great Britain from
the Tagus; and this, the French papers tell us,
will be effeeed in a very amicable manner. At all
events, the old maxim is to be allied upon,

Delenda eft Carpagn,
Aut Marte aut Mercurio I