REPORTS OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE FOREIGN TRADE OF THE COUNTRY.

First Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to consider of the means of Improving and Maintaining the Foreign Trade of the Country: Ordered to be printed 9th March, 1821.

THE Select Committee appointed to consider of the means of maintaining and improving the foreign trade of the country, and to report their opinion and observations thereupon from time to time to the House; and to whom the report relative to the timber trade, which was communicated from the Lords in the last session of parliament, and the several petitions respecting the duties on timber, presented to the House in the present session, were severally referred, have, pursuant to the order of the House, considered the matters to them referred; and have agreed to the following Report :

Your Committee have deviated from the course which their former report appeared to prescribe, and instead of proceeding to examine some of the burthens that were stated to press with considerable weight upon the foreign trade of the country generally, have applied their consideration to that particular branch of it, which embraces the importation of timber from the

northern states of Europe, and the British colonies in North America. This they have done, as well on account of that branch having (as appears by a report referred to them) already occupied the attention of a committee of the other house of parliament, appointed for similar purposes; as of the anxiety they understand to prevail among the commercial and shipping interests, connected with the trade in question, and the inconvenience of a continued suspense in respect to the system which parliament may deem it expedient to adopt, on the expiration of the existing law, which, according to the latest extension of it, will terminate on the 25th of March in the present year.

In the imposition of the several duties, at present in force, on the importation of timber, the consideration of the legislature appears to have been directed to two distinct objects; first, to the protection and encouragement of the wood trade in the British American colonies; and secondly, to the augmentation of the revenue.

Regarding them in this point of view, the first question that obviously presented itself was, to the maintenance of what part of these duties, if of any, the public faith might be supposed to be committed. A short reference to the laws which imposed the respective duties, and to the circumstances attending the periods at which they were im posed, has been sufficient to satisfy your Committee on this head.

Although the policy of giving en

couragement to the trade in timber from the British American colonies, may be inferred to have been previously entertained, from the acts 3 and 4 Anne, and 5 Geo. III., by which bounties upon the export of it were granted, it does not appear to have been acted upon with much effect before the year 1809. At that time the course of events had placed our relations with the northern states (from whose territories our supplies of timber, as well for domestic as for naval purposes, had been chiefly derived) in a situation which gave rise to a wellfounded apprehension, lest the resources in that quarter might entirely cease to be available for the demands of this country.

Under the influence of this apprehension, it was deemed advisable by parliament to resort to the hitherto neglected, though abundant supplies, to be found in our American colonies, and by adequate protection to encourage the transport of them, to meet the exigency with which we were threatened. To accomplish this object, a virtual exemption from duty was granted to the timber imported from our North American possessions, while a large addition was made to that levied on timber from the north of Europe, first, by the 49th Geo. III., c. 98, and in the ensuing year by the 50th, c. 77, by which the duties of the preceding year were doubled, making the whole duty on northern timber, including the temporary duty imposed in the same years, for the support and during the continuance of the war, amount to 21. 14s. 8d. per load. These duties were again augmented by an addition of 25 per cent to the permanent duties on timber, in common with all other duties of customs, for the express purpose of assisting the revenue. The whole of these duties were consolidated by the 59th of the late King, and now amount

to 31. 5s. per load, when imported in British ships.

From this statement it will appear, that of these duties (however they may all alike have operated in the way of protection to the colonial timber trade,) a part only can be said to have been intended for that purpose; viz. those which were imposed by the acts passed avowedly with the object of giving encouragement to that trade, amounting to 21. 1s. per load, and which may be contended to have led to its extension by the application of capital, which, except for such inducement, would never have been so invested. With respect to the exemption from duty in favour of colonial timber, that advantage was originally temporary, and has been since continued from time to time for limited periods; and although the persons concerned in the colonial timber trade may have had a just expectation that they should enjoy for a considerable period the advantages afforded them, as well by the exemption granted as by the duties imposed by the 49th and 50th Geo. III.; so far from any expectation being held out that the encouragement so given had been considered by government as permanent, or was intended to be indefinitely continued to them, that means seem to have been studiously taken to produce by explanation a conviction of a contrary tendency, and to impress them with the assurance, that previous ly to the expiration of the existing law, the timber trade would be brought under consideration of parliament, with the view of introducing an alteration into the scale of the present duties, that should render them more equal and more favourable to our intercourse with the foreign states with whom it was carried on. Your Committee are therefore of opinion, that there is nothing which precludes the consideration of these duties, nor any part of