The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1846-02-22
FURTHER EXTRACTS
From our Foreign Exchanges.

COMMERCIAL RELATIONS OF ENGLAND AND AMKii$$1
cA.-Mr McGregor has recently published repB
on the commercial tariffs and regulations Of
United States. which contains mass of satisfy
and commercial information of the first importarA
to our transatlantic readers As the report has Oh
Just made Its appearance, we are only enabedsIe
glance at its contents in our present number. H.
most volumnous, containing upwards of 400 paQe7y
of foolscap folio, and Is the production of gent
man who brings to his task the most ardent zeal
the cause of free trade, and an experience and e
lightened judgment in commercial statistics, Will
have secured the appreciation Of Sir Robert Pee
government. Mr. McGregor holds high positl,
in the Board OF Trade, and the contents Of the pr
sent volume may be relied on for their accuracy,
they have been compiled from official document
The following passage which accounts for England
commercial greatness, is striking, not less from
style than its TRUTH
IT would have been superAuous to advert to the 70
that in the United States and in the States Of Cont
mental Europe, the example of England, however,
lscies Of legislative protection to national industry, II
genuity and enterprise We stae boldly that England
lection which and other nations sxto as sega
cious wisdom Or a. gIaspng maritime and Commercial
B tain We repeat that which we have frequently
deavored to prove. and which happily, although thu
progress Of conviction ha. been SLOW Is now gen
acted ~ in the United sss. Su. whoh fores
ted We repeat that Engisnd has attained her
~, not by the aid but in defiance of her beral cor
msrcial system that England has owed her wealth an
ton to her many commanding hsrbors to her fisheries
the o ~ ,S as e
coal and ironinersrafifed for the coal to snet the
i.0n to the coal field: generally Of the north
Of Cheshire and Goucestershrs to the copper and tin
ton, from her granite and Limestone to the chalk and
sandsone to the variety elevations and depressions OF
her Soils rising from the rich iowlands Of Kent Essex
Norfolk and DISQUALIFICATION the fertile valleys and
plains of the SOUTH and Of the central counties the
pastures the heighths Of the South Downs-o ON the
hills Of Devonshire and Somersetshire-snd up to the
peaks Of and the mountains of and Cum
berland ito soils and pastures varying from the straths
rsntland hills and north to Bredalbsne to the 0rampi.
ans and to the Highlands to the materials for building.
and her woods have yielded; to her oab and other To-
rests which enable herto build her fleets, her
until .ood when wanted could have BEEN srouSSs to
her ports and ship yards from AFFAIR." to the very ncon
stency off climate not liable to great heat to intense
cold and to these great natural advantages
to those political moral, and inventive elements with
out which all other blessings would have been Of minor
luton of England, founded the Magma Charts, and
strengthened and secured by the Petition Rights the
settlement to the and industry Of her pso
ple to the enteprss Of her manufactures and the skill
which It originated; to the steam engine, spinning
jenny, mule and power loom to the adventurous spirit
hsr Psncsy merchants, and to the hardy ntrepidy
ele does Great Britain power and prospe
rity-her manufacturing and commercial weslth-her
ability in the maintenance her power and credit to pay
high taxation and high rens:-n despite of monopoes
protective duties and dear food despite of ali these
which all countries. and than the United
Kingdom and the United Ststes would act wisely by
ceiling from their legislation"
SKETCH or THE CoRN Laws short summary
OF the history OF the corn laws cannot fail at this
moment to prove interesting. The first act for re-
gulatlng the rates OF duty was 18th George III,
49, Previous to the passing of that act the statutes
or orders in Council on the subject were rather die
lated by circumstances, such as prosperous and de-
feient harvests, than any ineligible and settled
principles. Usually, gres ter quantity of corn was
crown than was required for our own consumption.
When there was scarcity, the expectation o. all
offered for importatlons from abroad. When, on
the other hand, there was glut in the country,
bounties were offered for its expectation. From an
early period, certainly early the reign of Hen
ry VI, the principle OF protection to homegrown
corn has been invariably maintained by our Legis-
lature. In the reign OF James the Importation Of
foreign wheat was prohibited when the price in the
English market was below 32s. per quarter; and in
the reign Of Charles H., when the commerce Of
England became more extended, 1t seems a COM
plete sliding scale was established, the duty on TO
reign wheat being los when the price here was 53s:
per quarter or under S. when between 53s. and
Sos; and when above the last price all imports to
be allowed free. The same line of policy may be
traced pervading the whole Of the succeeding
changes in the law until l773 when they assumed
more constant and regular shape. BY the act OF ID
Geo. III, tho duty was 24s. Sd. when wheat was
under Sos per quarter, and when the price was At
or above 5as. the duty was Sd. These rates seemed
70 nave been fixed with a view OF keeping the price
o. wheat a. nearly as possible at Sos per quarter
wnlsn, regarding the greater value OF money IN
those days, would probably be about equal 10 65s.
the quarter at tie present time Shortly alter the
mi mi 49,
raised, and when the price was below OBS. per quar-
ter the duty on foreign wheat was 80 3D.. falling to
14d when the price reached 66s. These duties
were advanced soon afterwards, and in 1876 Mr..
nobinson succeeded in passing an act absolutely
prohibiting the importation OF foreign wheat until
the price IN our markets had been for three con-
sccutive months, above sos. per quarter. Another
law was passed IN lS22, prohibiting the importation
OF foreign wheat when the prices were at or under
7Os per quarter admitting 1t when between 7Os and
SOs. at duty OF rs; when between COS. and s5s,
at duty Of BE- and when above s5s. at duty OF
IL. This law, however, never came into effect. az
II was provided that its operation should be DELAYED
until wheat rose above COS per quarter, which did
not occur before another alteration took place.
Early in 1877, Mr.. Canning brought forward se-
RES OF resolutions for the purpose Of forming them
into corn law. He proposed a sliding scale, near
w similar to the one afterwards carried by the We'll
lIngton Cabinet and which remained in force until
Sir Robert PEEPS bill IN 1872, which now regulates
the admission Of foreign corn.
letter FROM Rome states, that the Emperor Nj
cholas, during his etay there, bestowed enormous
sums in Rratuities On quitting the Vatican he lett
sum Of 900 Roman crowns Tor the domesucs