The shipping interest represented to the Board of Trade, that as Sweden and Norway were not quite so distant as Canada, if prohibitory duties were imposed on timber imported from the Baltic, and permission given to import Canadian timber duty free, a greater amount of tonnage, and a greater number of sailors, would be necessary to carry it to this country! The Right Honourable and enlightened persons to whom this representation was addressed, were extremely well pleased with the suggestion: And the Canada merchants having given the scheme their support, Ministers forthwith brought in a bill, repealing the duties payable on British American timber, and doubling those on Baltic timber! But, notwithstanding this enormous increase of duty, the trade with the North was still carried on, though to a comparatively limited extent, till 1813, when an addition of 25 per cent. being made to the duties laid on in 1810, it entirely ceased: And ever since that time, the people of Britain have been obliged to pay about twice the price for timber of the very worst quality, and which is not expected to last above 20 years, that previously sufficed to procure the finest and most durable timber in the world! But Ministers could not, had they been so disposed, stop here. Having gratified the Canada merchants and the shipping interest, by doubling the price of timber, they could not venture to refuse a monopoly of the iron trade to the proprietors of mines in this country. And hence, in order to attract an undue proportion of the national capital to the hazardous and unproductive trade of mining, prohibitory duties were imposed on Swedish and other foreign iron, and this important branch of our external commerce totally suppressed! This conduct, we must say, is much more akin to absolute insanity, than to mere official drivelling. For the sake of employing a few thousand additional tons of shipping, and of clearing a few hundred acres of a colony, which is of no value whatever to this country, and which, in the course of twenty or fifty years, will be either independent, or a province of the United States, we have deprived ourselves of the revenue afforded by the low duty on Baltic timber,-obliged our builders and manufacturers to pay double prices for inferior fir and iron,—almost entirely annihilated a trade second only in importance to that with the United States, and occasioned irreparable injury and disgust to our natural friends and customers! Neither Norway nor Sweden had any other commodities except wood and iron to give in exchange for our produce; and as we refused to take either of these, they have been absolutely unable to import a single cargo of our goods; so that we have in fact voluntarily shut ourselves out of a market where we annually disposed of from 800,000l. to 1,000,000l. worth of commodities! Russia and Prussia, from being possessed of a greater variety of resources, are still able to maintain a considerable intercourse with us; though, in those years in which we do not import corn, our exports to them do not exceed a third of what they amounted to previous to 1810. The experience we have now had of the effects of this perverse and ruinous policy, ought surely to be sufficient to induce us to renounce it for ever. As the act of 1810, by which the duties on Baltic timber were doubled, expires this year, an opportunity will be afforded, in the present Session of Parliament, of considering the expediency of its continuance. It is impossible, we think, in the actual situation of the country, and taking into view the effects of which it has already been productive, that Ministers can have the hardihood to propose its renewal. However, the public in general, and those more especially interested in the Baltic trade, should be upon their guard; and should urge on Parliament the necessity of replacing the intercourse with the Northern nations, as well in iron as in wood, on the same footing as before the duties were raised. Such a measure would be productive of the very greatest advantages in a mercantile point of view; while, as has been well observed by the author of the pamphlet before us, by relieving the Swedes, Norwegians, &c. from the suffering to which our change of system has exposed them, it would be received abroad as a token of liberal, fair acting on our part, and would do much to remove those sentiments of hostility which now so generally exist against It is, however, to the state of our intercourse with France that the public attention ought to be chiefly directed. At this distance of time, it is of no importance to inquire which of the two countries was the first to fetter and restrict the trade with its most civilized and opulent neighbour. Both parties, we believe, were in this respect equally blameable; and whichever may have been the first to commence this felo de se crusade on the comforts and enjoyments of its own subjects, its measures have been but too well seconded by the other. The wretched effects of such blind and infatuated policy have at length become manifest. Instead of being, what they have been most absurdly and wickedly designated, natural enemies, Britain and France, from their near vicinity, and the extreme variety, as well in their raw as in their manufactured products, are especially fitted to maintain an extensive and mutually advantageous intercourse. It is to France, much more than to either South or North America, or the East Indies, that we should look for new channels of commerce. We ought to show that we have emancipated ourselves from the disgraceful prejudices by which our ancestors were actuated, when they declared the trade with France a nuisance, (Prohibition Act, 1st Will. & Mary); and that the experience of a century has satisfied us, that a rich, populous, and highly cultivated country, must afford a much better market for our products, than one that is comparatively poor and miserable. We do not, however, contend, that any preference ought to be given to the trade with France over that with Portugal, or any other country, Laissez nous faire, is our maxim. Certainly, however, if any partiality were to be shown, we should have very little hesitation indeed in preferring THIRTY millions of rich customers to THREE millions of poor ones. But, although we do not reap a single advantage from our trade with Portugal, which might not be reaped in a tenfold greater proportion from a liberal intercourse with France, we desire no obstacles to be thrown in the way of our intercourse with this dear and near ally.' So far from this, we should be extremely well pleased were those now existing entirely done away, and the duties on port-wine reduced to one half their present amount. All that we want is, that the same favour should be shown to the trade with France, and that our manufacturers and merchants should no longer be excluded from the most extensive market in the world, merely because a Mr Methuen, who negotiated a treaty with Portugal in 1703, seems to have been of opinion, that this was the best method by which commerce could be promoted ! Why should a consumer of claret be obliged to pay 143/. 18s. per ton of duty, when a consumer of port is enabled to purchase the same quantity on payment of a duty of 957. 11s.? And why should as large a duty be levied from the vins ordinaires, as from those of the first quality? this appears to us to be pitifully absurd and ridiculous. Government might surely find enough to do without interfering to regulate the drinks of its subjects. The same moderate ad valorem duties ought to be imposed on all wines without distinction; and the consumers left to determine for themselves whether port and sherry be really preferable to claret and cham pagne. * АЦ For the information of our readers, we subjoin a statement of the duties payable, per ton, on the different species of foreign wines imported into this country. Duty on French wines imported in a British vessel Per Ton. £143 18 0 148 4 6 In a former article on this subject (No. 63. Art. III.), we supposed that, were the trade to France thrown open, and silks, wines, cambrics, &c. admitted, on payment of reasonable duties, the British silk manufacture would not be able to stand the competition, and that the capital invested in it would have to be gradually transferred to some more lucrative employment. We are now, however, inclined to think, that even this trifling inconvenience would not be experienced. The greater part of the silk manufactured in France is of foreign growth; but while the French manufacturer only pays an equal duty of about 2s. 6d. per pound on both raw and thrown silk, the English manufacturer has to pay 5s. 6d. per pound of duty on the former, and 15s. on the latter! No wonder, when such an immense advantage is given to the French, that they should be able to beat us out of the foreign market, and even to smuggle a considerable quantity into this country. But, Mr Ellice, Member for Coventry, one of the principal seats of the silk manufacture, distinctly and explicitly stated, in his speech on Mr Bennet's motion for an Inquiry into the State of the Manufacturing Districts, that if Ministers would take off the tax on the raw material, he would consent, on the part of his constituents, to open the ports for a free trade with France in articles of silk manufacture, I do not,' said the honourable gentleman, speak unadvisedly; and I am certain, that in that case this country would at least furnish as much as she would receive.' It is in vain, therefore, to attempt to set up a clamour about the injury that would be done to the silk interest, by throwing open the trade with France. But, supposing that the silk trade could not be carried on under a liberal system, that would not in the least affect our opinion of the propriety of recurring to the sound principle of unrestricted intercourse. A branch of industry which can only support itself in the absence of all competition, had much better be abandoned. Neither the French Duty on Portugal and Spanish wines imported in a British vessel Ditto on Portugal and Spanish wines imported in a Fo- Duty on Madeira wine in a British vessel Duty on wine imported from the Cape) of Good Hope, is exactly one third of Foreign vessel the duty on Portugal and Spanish British vessel wines. p. Ton. L.95 11 0 3 122 10 Duty on German and Hungary wines in a British vessel 118 in a Foreign vessel 69 nor the Spaniards would send us their silks, wines, brandies, &c. gratis: And the capital and industry which is now employed in the production of such commodities as would, under a different system, be imported from abroad, would then be devoted to the production of the articles which foreigners would not fail to require as an equivalent. It is obvious, therefore, that the abolition of all restrictions and prohibitions whatever, would prodigiously augment the productive energies of the country. As long as we cooperate with nature, we cannot be undersold by foreigners. And if, instead of absurdly endeavouring to raise at home what might be more cheaply imported from abroad, we were to employ our capital and industry exclusively in those branches in which our insular situation, our inexhaustible supplies of coal, and our improved machinery, give us a natural and real advantage, we should be secured a gainst those injurious revulsions and changes in the ordinary channels of trade, which, in a fully peopled and highly manufacturing country, never fail to occasion the most wide-spread misery and distress. Lorsque nous condamnons nos terres à nous donner ce qu'elles produisent avec désavantage, aux dé-' pens de ce qu'elles produisent plus volontiers; lorsque nous achetons fort cher, ce que nous payerions à fort bon marché, si nous le tirions des lieux où il est produit avec avantage, nous dévenons nous mêmes victimes de notre propre polie. Le comble de l'habileté est de tirer le parti le plus avantageux * des forces dé la nature; et le comble de la démence est de lutter contre elles; car c'est employer nos peines à détruire une partie des forces qu'elle voudroit nous préter.' + • Commerce,' to use the words of another able writer, is an exchange of equivalents-a bartering between nations of one commodity for another. It is self-evident, therefore, that if we were to adopt the principle of free intercourse, and to import a considerable quantity of raw or manufactured produce, we should have to export a considerable quantity of something else in order to pay for it. In whatever degree our unrestricted external trade might lead us to receive commodities from other countries, in the same degree it would render those countries customers for our commodities-would promote our manufactures and extend our trade. As air expands, in proportion as the surrounding pressure is removed, so commerce flourishes as legislative interference is withdrawn. Whatever natural facilities we may possess, for carrying on the several branches of industry; and whatever may be our Say, Traité d'Economie Politique. Ed. 4me, p. 177. |