The Commissioners of Inqu...
The Times, 1824-03-20T00:00:00

The Commissioners of I)quiry into the collection and management of the Irish Reyenue have publishecl their 7th Report, which follows up the principles and recommenda- tions of the preceding reports, by a narrative of the in- provements alrea(ly resulting from the labours of these Commissioners, antI by a statement of t.e errors and irre- gularities whlich in certaiu branches of the public service still remain to be correctedl. The present Report confines itself to thte departments of the Customs and Excise. It appears that the chaniges sanctionie(d by Parliament dIiring the last session have greatly contribtuted to facilitate and improve the rollectioni of the revenue, and to extend the trade and enliven the industry of Ireland. These changes comprehended as well, an ineorporation of the revenlue establishments throughout the Uniited Kingdom, as a code of arranzemeits for simplifs hig and adjusting the counter- vailing duties anl drawbacks between the two islands-for consolidating the duties of customs and dlrawbacks-and for accelerating the abolition of the Union dluties. The final aim of all tlhcse measures has been, as the commerc;al world are sensible, to place the trade between Great Bri- tain and Ireland on the footing of a coasting tra(le. The actual effect of the new system has been in one respect very rem4Cqble, alnd proves how possible it is for merchants to misos,-ulate in the most extraordinary manner the interests and fluctuations of the commerce in which they are en- gaged. NJ-hen a redlutetion of the reciprocal duties WAS proposed, the cotton-nmanufacturers of Ireland were dis- mayed with the apprehension that Ireland noitl(l be over- rum with British cottolls, anti that the native goods of that dlescription would be thrown out of the homcn-market of Irelan(l. Now. what has happened? Itnstead of these 1ears being ever so slightly realized-instead of England superseding the Irish cotton-.manufacturer in his own market, the latter has found a market for his goords in the heart of tlle manufacturing olistricts of Great Britain for cver since the reduction of the duties, Irish cottons have been eagerly bought up in the great towns of iManchestcr and Glasgow. T he following is a table of the am-ount of plain calicoes exported fromn Ireland to Great Britaiti in each of the three last years:- yardq. Year ended oth of January, 1822 Nil. 1823 16,681 1824 2,739,819 An actual increase, or more properly speaking, a creation of export cotton, to the amount, in one year, of nearly S millions of yards-and tbis the result of a simple removal of a duty, which was meant to be a protecting one (!) to the articie whose. interests were thus heteredoxically fro- moted. it is no wonder, then, that the Irish merchants have become converts to the new light of financial ,econOmy; or that they now cry out for a repeal of all duties, as loudly as they once did for their imposition cr continuarnce.. IemoriaLs, amcordingly, h&ve bceu trams.mit. ted to Goverument fronA the silk. woolleu, and otller trades of Dublin,-Belfast, and Waterford, praying for the 'removal of all restrictions now affecting their several branches of manufacture. The matter whichl we have above cited,-and the greater part of wvhich is a condensation of what the Commnissioners havepresented to Parliament,-embraces the most valuable division of the report, tbe remainder of wlhich is dedicated to minute reronns in the several offices of the revenue, which seem desi-ned to advance the objects of economy, simplicity, and Sespatch, in the management of the public business. The annual expense in salaries, &c., which it is proposed to save by these ameliorations, will be above 17,4001., or more than one-third of the whole yearly burden of the offices thus reformed.