OBSERVATIONS ON THE REPORTS OF THE SELECT COMMITTEES OF BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, ON THE SUBJECTS OF THE TIMBER TRADE AND COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS; IN WHICH ARE POINTED OUT The Real Bearings of those Questions on the Shipping and Manu- ALSO Some Remarks on Canada and the United States, AND THE TRADE BETWEEN THOSE COUNTRIES AND THE WEST LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. M. RICHARDSON, 23, CORNHILL, OPPOSITE THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 1820% AT a period when the legislature has been called upon, by numerous bodies of merchants and manufacturers, to remove nearly all the restrictions and prohibitions by which our mercantile system has been hitherto carried on, and when the principles of political economy are sought to be applied in the broadest manner to our navigation and commerce, without almost considering, whether the other nations of the earth have any similar or other regulations, equally deviating from those principles; I have felt it a duty to make some observations on the Report of the Select Committees of both Houses of Parliament, to whom those petitions were referred, to show, that however just and true the modern principles of political economy may be in the abstract, their application to our navigation, commerce, and, B 1 manufactures, can only be beneficial, when made to bend to the various artificial and embarrassing systems of other countries, and when so shaped as to meet those adverse duties and restrictions, in the mode the most profitable to ourselves and the least irksome and disagreeable to the various people with whom we have to deal. Those, therefore, who throw out the signal for free trade, and the universal adoption of the principles of modern political economy, as the panacea for all our ills, should consider, whether it is not cruel, thus to raise false hopes and to delude our artisans and smaller manufacturers (well knowing that this country, owing to its heavy burthens, is in no condition materially to alter its duties and prohibitions, and that the maintenance of its independence, requires a moderate protection to our agriculture and the security of our naval power), and whether it be prudent, as regards foreign nations, to hold out any greater relaxation of our general system than the peculiar circumstances of our country will permit, but honestly to declare our wish to adopt the most liberal policy in our commercial intercourse with foreign states, that a just regard to those circumstances will allow. The reports made to the two Houses of Parliament, from the Select Committees, for extending and securing the foreign commerce of the country, to whom were referred the petitions of the merchants of London, &c. when made known to the public, will excite not a little surprise, as well for what they recommend, as for what they do not recommend. That of the Lords, being confined to the timber trade, to which the immediate attention of Parliament must be directed, and being very important in itself, I shall begin with, and make my remarks in the order, as the observations occur in the Report. It states "The હૃદ encouragement afforded to the importation of "wood from the British Colonies in North Ame"rica, by the imposition of heavy duties on wood "from foreign states, is of comparatively recent 66 date, and does not appear to have formed a "part of the commercial or colonial policy of the country previous to the late war. Till the year 1809, little or no duty had been imposed upon the various species of timber in that and "the succeeding year, however, the nature of our 66 political relation with the Baltic powers led ❝to an apprehension, that great difficulty might "be found in deriving the usual supplies of tim"ber from that quarter, not only for the general purposes of domestic use, but more particularly "for the purpose of ship building. ". 66 To It was however, known, that timber in any "quantity, although of an inferior quality, might be obtained in the British Colonies in North "America. But this being a new branch of |
