Star.
London, England, 1821-04-10 00:00:00

WOOL DUTIES.

Mr. THOMAS WILSON then rose to present al
Petition from the Merchants, Traders, and Ware-
housemen of the City of London, praying .a Repeal
of all Duties on the /Importation of Foreign Wool.
The subject was an important one, and he hoped the',
House would pardon him if he took this opportu-
nity of saying a few words upon it. The Petition'
stated, and he had otherwise good reason to belieie,
that the allegation was not incorrect, that if the pre
sent system of shutting out foreign wool without
serving that of home growth was acted upon, the
consequence would be, that we should lose our wool-
len manufacture altogether. The United States, in
particular, were likely to run away with this most
important branch of our manufactures, unless some
steps were immediately taken to put the English
buyer on the same footing with the manufacturers of
other countries at the foreign markets, and this could
only be done by
.taking away those impediments to
importation which the present high duties created.
It was a fact that the importation of foreign wool
had fallen off in a great degree, and that the expor-
tation of woollen goods was of course diminished in the
same proportion. He had at that moment a letter
which he had received from Bilboa, in Spain, dated
so lately as February, in which it was stated that no
less than three American vessels had just then cleared
out, laden with Spanish wool. This was quite un-
precedented, and ought to shew how the operation
of the Wool Duties was driving that trade from us
into another channel. The Honourable Member then
stated another fact of an English merchant who had
bought a cargo of wool, but finding that it would not
pay him if he landed it here at the expense.of the
Import Duties, he re-sold it to an American manu-
facturer. A vessel at Liverpool, similarly situated,
with 250 bags_ on board, was re-sold to an Ameri-
can, rather than be landed at the high duties. He
also mentioned that he had had a communication
with a manufacturer in the City, who was in the
habit cf receiving an annual order from America to
the amount of £6,000 for fine woollen goods and stuffs,
but that order had been lately transferred to Bre-
men and other places on the Continent, who were,
now rivalling us in that trade. The high duties on
wool served to keep the English manufacturer out of
the market, by which a great advantage was given
the foreigner, who was thereby enabled to sell the
finished material cheaper. And yet it was a fact that
good cloths could not be made of English wool alone,
for a portion of Spanish wool was absolutely neces-
sary to give them a soft and fine appearance. Not-
withstanding the tax of 335. on wool, hitherto we had
kept up a tolerable trade with America, but since
that duty was raised to 50s. the trade had fallen off.
The Americans could not buy at our prices, and thus
we obliged them to become manufacturers, whether
they would or not. He asked, was it good policy to
drive away this great staple manufacture, which it was
the ambition of our ancestors to countenance and en-
courage? There was only one way by which it could
be retrieved, and that was by placing the English
manufacturer on the same footing with the foreigner
in the market, and there was no doubt but his capi-
tal and his industry would soon restore the trade to
this country. In addition to the letters the Honour-
able Member had received, he had one more to men-
tion, and that also he received from another manu-
facturer in the City. That person stated that he was
now unable to dispose of his goods abroad, as the
fabrics of Aix-la-Chapelle were sold cheaper, and
were quite as good in quality. The Honourable
Member concluded by calling on the House to take
the subject into their serious consideration. To the
agricultural Gentlemen, he would say, that by sup-
porting this tax they were doing a great injury to
others without serving themselves. 1-le was sure a
paltry income of £lBO,OOO a-year, which mas the
produce of this duty, would be no impediment to
the restoration of this very important branch of our
manufactures.

Mr. A. BARING said that, as a friend of his had
given notice of a motion to repeal these duties, he
would abstain, for the present, from stating his opi-
nions on them. He could not help saying, however,
that it was a most important question, and if the
House did not attend to the various Petitions which
came in from the country touching it, we were likely
to lose that trade altogether.
Mr. HUSKISSON thought the Honourable Mem-
ber who spoke last was right in not giving an opi-
nion on the expediency of the Wool Duties, until
they came to be regularly discussed, when the mo-
tion should come before the House. He should fol-

101/rth at licique: table Member's example and% reAlly
•
'thought that rietruld be a fitter time to State his Olt!,
Huskissoresr views of the subject, than to give them',
in answer to ,the ex-parte statement of the Honour-.
able. Member for the City of London. With regard.
to the amount of the duty, however, which lastybar
amounted to giso,ooo,
_he could not help saying,
that as that proved that 8;000,600 lbs. of wool bad
„been imported, it furnished no great evidence of a
falling off in the trade.—The Petition was then laid
on the table, and ordered to be printed.