The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-15 00:00:00

Varitaintittarp 4)rorrel3tno.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-MONDAY

Lord LANSDOWNE brought in his bill for opening re-
lations with the Court of Rome.

Lord STANLEY and others urged the novelty of the
thing to the country and its importance, and contended
for time to consider. The day for the second reading was
fixed for the 24th instant.
The Bishop of MANCHESTER was introduced, and took
the oaths.
Lord STANLEY, in presenting the petitions from,the
West Indies, entered into a masterly exposition of the
State robberies and oppressions which, from the bill. of
1826 to the Government encouragement of slavery in Cuba
and • Brazil, had spread equal ruin on these colonies, and
all their inhabitants—till £lOOO could not be raised on
any estate in Jamaica, Demerara, or Trinidad. Nothing
short of a return to the differential duties of 1846 could
meet the necessities of the case. The £20,000,000 granted
to the planters formed a very indifferent recompense.to
the planters for the labour they had lost. The supply of
sugar had fallen off during the years from 1839 to 1843, a
period of unlimited freedom .of labour, from 3,520,000 cwt.
to 2,100,000 cwt. In 181.7 the produce was 3,761,000.ewt.
in fact, from 1825 to 1832 the supplies of sugar had been
more than sufficient to meet the demands of this country :
the surplus had been sent to other countries, thus show-
ing that there bad been no monopoly. But since the act
of emancipation the cost of production had been enor-
mously increased, and there had been a corresponding. di-
minution in the supply. From 1830 to 1834 the expense
of producing a hundred weight of sugar was 4s. 5d.; from
1834 to 1838 it was 6s. 3d.; from 1838 to 1842 it was
16s. Ild. ; and from 1842 to 1846 it was 21s. 6d. per cwt.
The petition from Trelawney, which he presented, stated
that the cost of production had been increased to 20s. per
cwt. of which 13s. 4d. went into the pockets of the la-
bourers, leaving the balance only to meet all the other ex-
penses of the planter. His lordship bore testimony, how-
ever, in favour of the conduct of the negroes, and said that
no class of labourers could be more disposed to makes
g_ood use of their freedom. He highly approved of the
Emancipation Act; but maintained that the planters had
a right to some protection againstthe competition of slave
holding producers, who were now upon the same footing
as our colonists. The latter had been deceived by the
promise of protection held out to them prior to the gene-
ral election in 1840, and they had a right to expect the
promise to be fulfilled. He then contrasted the position
of our colonists with the slave-holding producers of
Cuba and Brazil, and maintained that the Act of 1846 was
a bounty upon slavery. With reference to the production
of sugar in India, it was of a peculiar character : so long
as the market here realised for it a certain price, it would
come; but whenever it fell below, 20s. to 225. at Calcutta
the supply ceased, as it was more profitable to retain it in
that country. Notwithstanding the large increase in the
sugar imported from the Brazils, &c., our exports had in-
creased very little. From Demerara they asked for a loan
to encourage drainage ; another from Jamaica applied for
a repeal of the Navigation-laws in addition ; and others
for an equalization of the duties on rum and British spirits,
and the admission of molasses and sugar in breweries and
distilleries. He did not himself believe that a repeal of
the Navigation-laws would be of any benefit to the West
India Proprietors, and he deferred entering on the question
as to the use of sugar and molasses in the way required,
and that rum should be introduced at an equal rate with
the duty on British spirits. With reference to the supply
of free labourers, he admitted that emigration from Africa
was for the benefit of the colonies and the negro popula-
tion, but he feared it would be attended with many of the
evils which they had endeavoured to suppress in connec-
tion with the slave trade. In conclusion, his Lordship
declared his decided opinion that the only remedy for the
evils he had been referring to was the re-imposition of
differential duties, and an abandonment of the principles
of free trade which would otherwise bring ruin upon the