Star.
London, England, 1820-06-06 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Mr. Limits, the new Member for Carlisle, took the oaths and
his seat.

Mr. COKE presented I Petition from William Cobbett, of
Bottley.--[nde Lards.)--Ordered to be printed.
Sir P. KNATCHBULL brought up the Report of the Com-
mittee on the Galway (town) Election, declaring W. Prender-
gast, Esq. the sitting Member, to have been duly elected, and
that it did not appear that the Petition againt the return Was
either frivolous or vexatious. _ _ _

Mr. WESTERN presented a Petition, signed by eighty-one
of the most active and respectable Magistrates of the County of

DUTIES ON TINIER.
General GASCOYNE presented a Petition from a
number of Merchants and Ship-owners of Liverpool,
praying that n 0 alteration might be made in the Du-
ties affecting the Importation of Timber, in favoir of
foreign Powers. They stated the advantages which
Great Britain and her Colonies conferred upon each
other by the former having excluded the importation
of timber from the North of Europe. If the trade in
timber, which we now carried on with our own Co-
lonies in North America, were transferred to the
Baltic countries; the consequence would be a great
reduction in the amount of our exported manufac-
tures. The countries in the Mk would not take
our manufactures in exchange for their timber to
half the extent that the Colonies of North America
did. In addition to the other ill effects of transferring
the trade to the Balticr we should- considerably dimi-
nish the employment of the, emigrants in North
America, most of whom found a source of industry
in the cutting down of timber.
Sir ISAAC COFFIN stated, that there was scarcely
an emigrant employed in the cutting down of tim-
ber in North America.—Laid on the table.

Mr. MARRYATT presented a Petition from the
Ship-builders of the Port of London, against any al-
terati.,n of the Duties on Timber. They stated, as a
proof of the decaying condition of their trade, that
they had, until a recent period, kept ten thousand
men in employment, Lut that now they had not em-
ployment for one-third of that number. They ex-
pressed themselves favourable to the protection given
to the produce of our own colonies, considering the'
duties on Baltic timber well calculated to secure that
monopoly to our trade, which we should carefully
promote.—Laid on the table.
Mr. WILSON presented a Petition from the Ship-
owners of the Port of London, to the same effect as
the former. The intention of taking off the protect-
ing duties on Baltic timber he understood arose from
the policy of conciliating the Northern Powers. But
he believed that in consequence of the, liberty of the
Press, and the free admission of Newspapers into the
.Northern Countries, the Potentates of that part of
the world were, by this time, acquainted with the
extent of our National Debt, and the difficulty we
labour under as to our resources ; and it, was impos-
sible that, knowing this, they could grudge the con-
tinuation of this tax on their 'exports. It was his
firm conviction, that if the proposition for lowering
the protecting duties were .carried into effect, it
would annihilate our trade in timber with the North
American Colonies. It might be shewn, perhaps,
that the Baltic article was cheaper than that which
was imported from North America; but he would
contend, that the trade which ,employed so much of
our shipping, must be, upon the whole, the most ad-
vantageous for the country.
Sir WILLIAM CURTIS hoped the House would
give every attention to the Petition of a most respect-
able set of men. He supported the Petition.
Mr. MARRYATT said, he was a friend to the
prayer of the Petition. He reminded the House of
the deterioration of the value of ships within the last

few years. Eve,-v hefty In use might• be cowl-
dered as having been built daring the war, and.c: n-
sequently built at th:- nigliest charge. He hin-.telf
boat a 'snip in 1810, and purchased another—each of
which cost £ll,OOO. The deterioration of the value
might be stated at £4OOO, reducitn., the amount to
1:10,000. He cceld assure the flcuse, however,
that trey were not now calculated to belo.orth much
more than bomo each.' On the close of the war,
the Shipping Interest was held up by the opening of
the private trade to bniia hy means of the new Char-
ter. • Another branch of profit to this &unary was the
carrying trace to the Mediterranean.. Up to 1817,
we enjoyed exclusively the pass 'of that important
sea, all other flags either ris;king their carital* cr
paying the was duties on their porcies. The war,
however, which we • earrictd on with the Dey of Al-
giers, put an end to thi, monor4y, and terminated
by placing ail the Tuner s of Europe on a lore' with
us. The third branch of profit which we enjoyed,.
was the carrying of timber from our Colonies; which •
from 80,000 tons, increased last year to 3 ft:1)(V
tons. The Hon. Member then adverting to the'Petib
Lion of the Merchants of the City of London, recom-
mending a free trade, said, after some comments,
that if that recommendation were carried into effect,
it would involve the destruction of a great mass of
thecountry. Every Power in Europe, having Colo.
nies, adopted the policy of* hoposing protecting dti,
ties in favour of the produce of those Colonies. Why
then should the same policy be censured in us ? But
it was strange that the Northern Powers should con-
Ceive the protecting duties on timber to have been
laid'-on the Baltic export of that article out of hosti-
lity to theirs. On the contrary, our giving a mono-
; poly to the Colonies, was the result of their hos• :lity
to 'us. When they had shut us out from all corm*.
nication with them, we were compelled to lock for a
resource in our Colonies, and in justice to these, at
least, we should not now abandon them. After stating
the great increase of the carrying trade from North
America, the Honourable Metnlier, in answer to an
objection respecting the small num!.er cf em";zrants
in that country, observed, that according to info ma-
tioa derived from his own correspond.o.ts," the tide
of emigration from the United States of North Ame-
rica was now setting in. The great object of our corn-
munication 'with North itincricit was• not so much the
article of timber itself, as the freight. A ship 'could
only Make One voyage in the year between this and
North America, whereas she could make several
voyages in the year between this and the Baltic.
Besides, it was -well known, that in the voya-e to
the Baltic, more was paid for the timber, and less
for the freight; but that in• a•voyage from North
America, less was paid for the timber, but more for
frieght. The effect of annihilating the trade with
America, would be to throw 12COA los out of employ.
The seamen, to the amount of 17,634., who navigated
these vessels, no longer finding employment at
home, would be compelled to transfer their services
to foreign Powers. The price of home timber was
now scarcely sufficient to remunerate the grower.—
But if the Baltic timber were admitted, the come-
quence would be, a still farther deterioration of the
home produce. He begged to remind the House,
that there was equal justice in taking off the proteet-
ing duty of corn, as in removing that of timber ; and
he was well aware, that if the duty of the latter were
repealed, it would be only a prelude to the removal
of the importation duty on corn. He deprecated the
impolicy of extending commercial concerns with fo-
reigners. The more a cduntry did so, the more she
endangered her prosperity. The Americans were
seeking to coerce us; bat, by keeping up our navy,
we should be enabled to defy their power. Our motto,.
Dieu et mon That, we should alwa} s adhere by, and
never forget it to the last. He should now conclude,
(A laugh), by recommending that this Petition be
taken into the serious consideration cf the House.
Mr. BARING observed, that, with the exception of
the timber trade alone, the ship-owners would not be
affected in their interests by the proposition which he
intended to submit in reference to the subject of this
Petition. He should not, however, now go into any
particulars with regard to that branch of the Baltic
trade, which would more properly come under con-
sideration when the proposition was laid before the
House in its various details. The Hon. Member was
proceeding to offer some other observations, wheat
• The SPEAKER suggested, that it might not be
expedient to prolong discussion on the present occa-
sion, as there were no less than seventeen Orders of
the Day to be dispesedof, which were all of them im-
portant ; and as it was probable that some other Ho-
nourable Members_might be disposed to deliver their
sentiments besides the Gentleman who was then ad-
dressing the Heuse.
Mr. M. A. TAYLOR depreciated the novel prac-
tice which had crept into the House of protracting
discussion in the presentation of Petitions. This
practice was productive of much inconvenience, and,
as a proof of it, he needel only observe, that not less
than one hour and a half had 'been consumed in can-
vassing prematurely the matters to which the Pe-
tition related.—The Petition was then read, and or-
dered to lie on the table. -

FOREIGN TRADE.
Mr. BARING moved that a Select Committee be
appointed for.the purpose cf inquiring iiito the best
means of maintaining and improving the ForelEn.
Trade of the country, aid that they report theiropi-
nions thereon to the House: The ruction was agreed
to without discussion, and the folk);; ing..Llon. Mensp
bets appointed as the ComMittee :
Mr. Baring, Mr. Canning,
Mr. Robinson, ' Sir Jcot n N't v• part,
Mr. Tierney, Mr. Douglas,
LOrd Castlereagh, 'lr. Huskissen,
Mr. T. Wilson, I r. s urgoli bourne,
Mr. Finlay, • :A1r...-14.1ey.
Mr. Wallace,
The name of Mr. Ai.Exispa.n ROBERTSON Was
afterwards added to the list.
Merchants
the
autsm4otio,i of
Traders rIsoBA
fLnouinNdo, the Petitioniilvasrel.erro the
wfto