after the intentions of Government had been announced; but further consideration, and the representations of parties concerned, having subsequently induced them to concede certain modifications in particular items, an amended copy of the Tariff was afterwards placed in the hands of Members, previously to the 5th of May, on which day it was announced that it would be moved to go into Committee on this important subject.

On that day the proceedings in the House of Commons were commenced by an elaborate preliminary statement on the part of the Prime Minister. The delay in bringing forward the Tariff, he said, had been unavoidable, from the nature of the propositions themselves; for it was the duty of Government, in first considering the subject, to avoid communication with parties personally interested; but the proposal having been once made, parties had a fair right to be heard with reference to the important commercial changes affecting their interests. To the amended copy of the Tariff he appealed for proof, that the Ministers had been swayed by no unworthy motive; that they had neither deferred to powerful in terests suggesting alterations without reason, nor neglected weaker interests. He cast a glance retrospectively upon the legislation relating to this subject :

"In 1787, Mr. Pitt consolidated the Customs-laws. During the war, it was the practice under financial pressure, to raise the Customs-duties indiscriminately; and many of the present anomalies arose from that practice. In 1825, Mr. Huskisson made important changes; and in 1839 a Select

Committee of the House had performed an important service, by directing general attention to the state of the Tariff and the Importduties."

The general object of the present Government was to simplify the existing law :

"We have applied ourselves to the simplification of the Tariff-to make it clear, intelligible, and as far as possible, consistent; and that alone, without reference to the amount of duty is, I apprehend, a great public object. We have also attempted, speaking generally, to remove all absolute prohibitions upon the import of foreign articles, and to reduce duties which are so high as to be prohibitory to such a scale as may admit of a fair competition with domestic produce. There are instances in which that principle has been departed from, and where prohibitions are maintained, and in those cases, we justify departure from the rule upon special circumstances; but the general rule has been, to abolish prohibitions, and reduce prohibitory duties within the range of fair competition. Our object has been, speaking generally, to reduce the duties on raw materials, which constitute the elements of manufactures, to an almost nominal amount; to reduce the duties on half-manufactured articles, which enter almost as much as raw materials into domestic manufactures, to a nominal amount; and with reference to articles completely manufactured, our object has been to remove prohibitions and reduce prohibitory duties, so as to enable the foreign producer to compete fairly with the domestic manufacturer; and I still entertain that confident belief and expectation, which I expressed on first inti

mating the intentions of the Government with respect to this Tariff, that the general result of it, if adopted by the House, will be materially to diminish the charge of living in this country. If you say to me, Why, you cannot make such a saving on this particular article, as to constitute any material item in the expenditure of a family,' I am quite willing to admit that, with respect to particular articles; but, speaking of the general effects of the Tariff as proposed by Her Majesty's Government, I contend, if there be any truth in the principles either of trade or of arithmetic, the inevitable result must be-and a great advantage it will prove to all classes of the community-to make a considerable reduction in the present price of living in this country, as compared with the price of living in other countries. It has been said, that it would be better to take fewer articles, and deal specifically with them: but the immense advantage of dealing generally with a great number of articles is, that to him who has to suffer individual and partial injury, you give a compensation by reductions on other articles."

He then went over in detail some of the chief alterations proposed in duties on what might be considered raw material :

"For instance, there are several kinds of seed-produce, the free importation of which would be of great advantage to the agricultural interest. In 1840, the cloverseed imported at 20s. duty produced 141,000l. revenue; an extent of importation, considering the high duty, which proves how great the necessity for it had been.

The duties on woods came next: in consequence of the high

duties on foreign wood entered for home consumption, it has been imported into this country, and then re-exported to France and Germany, and, finally, re-imported hither as furniture, on a payment of 20 per cent. ; so that the cabinet trade of this country has been transferred to Germany and France; but by the reduction, I anticipate that England may in turn export furniture. The reduction of duties on dye-woods and ores, will be of the greatest benefit to the trade. The high duty on copper ore operates in such manner, that copper smelted in bond in this country cannot be used here; while copper is imported which has been smelted in France and Belgium with our own fuel." He gave an instance of the effect: A foreign power was desirous of entering into a very large contract for the building of several steamships. Application was made to this country; and the only objection made to entering into a contract for the building of these steam-ships here, to a very large extent, was, on account of the expense of coppering and fastenings, and preparing the steam-boilers in this country, as compared with France and Belgium. A demand was made to give a drawback on the amount of copper required, or to permit a quantity of copper to be introduced from foreign countries duty-free, equivalent to the amount needed for those vessels. It was impossible to accede to those demands; although it was stated by the parties concerned, that the contract must be transferred either to Rotterdam or some place in Belgium. I believe that course has not been taken; I believe the decision as to the place in which the contract shall be entered into

has been suspended, until the determination of this House shall have been made known; and I have every reason to believe, in case there should be an adequate reduction of the price of copper in this country, as compared with the price in other countries, that that contract, instead of being transferred to a Continental port, will be taken in this country.' The like advantages would result from the reduced duties on oils and extracts,' which are extensively used in our manufactures; while one of the chief, spermaceti oil, has risen from 601. or 70l. per tun a few years ago, to 957, or even to 1117. per tun; and in the United States, it can be procured for simi lar purposes at 3s. or 4s. a gallon. Coming to timber, he reminded the House of the celebrated dictum of Mr. Deacon Hume, that we have abundance of untaxed coal, abundance of untaxed iron, and that we only want abundance of untaxed wood, in order to be provided cheaply with the three great primary raw materials of employment and necessary con sumption. He thought that to admit an unlimited competition with the Colonies in an article of so much importance to them, would be open to grave objections; but the permission to import colonial timber free from duty, would keep in check any demand which might be made on Parliament, in case they felt disposed to afford additional facilities for the importation of Baltic timber.

On articles of foreign manufac ture, he proposed to lay an amount of duty, generally speaking, not to exceed 20 per cent. At present, the amount of the duties was as high as it was during the war. It had been said, that by that re

duction they had begun at the wrong end; and that they ought to have dealt more largely with the Corn-laws, and the duties on articles of provision :—

His answer was, that they had materially reduced the price of the necessaries of life. At that moment, under the old law, the duty on foreign wheat would have been 27s, a quarter; under the new law it was 13s. He found that beef, fresh or slightly salted, was absolutely prohibited; he proposed to admit it at 8s. a hundred-weight. Lard, an article important in the consumption of the poor, and for manufacturing purposes, would be admitted at 2s, a hundred-weight, instead of 8s. ; salt beef at 8s. instead of 12s.; hams at 14s. a hundred, instead of 28s.; salmon, now prohibited, would be admitted at 10s. a hundred-weight; and herrings, a fish in which the poor were most interested, would be admitted at 10s. the barrel instead of 20s. This part of the measure had created some apprehension in the north of Scotland, under the apprehension of which a person had written to him thus: way produces, I think, as many herrings as we do. Go to the Baltic, and you may purchase herrings at 7s. 6d. to 8s. a barrel, while ours cost from 18s. to 20s. I presume the Norwegian herrings can be landed in Ireland at 11s. to 12s. per barrel; ours cannot at less than from 20s. to 22s. I am a free-trader in every other respect(Cheers and laughter)but with respect to herrings, I caution you against the general ruin which you are about to in flict on those engaged in that branch of trade.' That was fair example of the general feeling created by these reductions. He

Nor

very

could not help replying to his correspondent, That he has not convinced me that I was about to inflict ruin on the working classes of the north of Ireland, by enabling them to get for 10s. a barrel of herrings for which they must at present pay 20s,'”

But why should not the inhabitants of the north of Scotland be able to compete with the Norwegians for the supply of Ireland?

"I say, reduce the duty on timber; enable the fisherman to build a better kind of boat, in order that he may go further to sea, and navigate in rougher weather, and then he will be well able to compete with foreign fishermen. He has as much industry, as great skill; and by exposing him to a certain amount of competition, you apply a stimulus to greater exer. tion than is now called for from him. Reduce the price of other raw materials he requires, and the effect will be still greater in the same direction."

In the same way, he showed the effect of the reduction on vegetables. After mature consideration, Government had come to the conclusion, that the duty on hops was extravagant; and it would be reduced from 81. 4s. to 41. 10s. Taking then the whole Tariff, not an individual article like corn, it would be seen that the cost of sustenance was greatly reduced. He quoted a letter from an attaché at the Court of Berlin, which explained that, with the municipal or octroi duties, the cost of living to the poor in the large Continental towns was very nearly as great as in this country. But high duties were, in fact, a mere delusion; they did not protect the home manufacturer, for the smuggler robbed the fair trader of the

protection. In proof, he read a letter from a smuggler :

"This is a letter, of course not addressed to me-(Laughter)—but I guarantee it to be a bona fide letter, addressed by a man of large means and capital, in regular intercourse with this great city as a smuggler. It is dated December, 1841. After offering his services on the goods from a certain port, he adds, I am also able to forward to you every week blondes and laces (I mean, articles manufactured at Lille, Arras, Caen, Chantilly, &c.) at a very low premium by the indirect channel. (Laughter.) The goods would be delivered in London the same week of the reception here, by a sure and discreet individual: my means are always free of losses and damages, or I would not use them. Here follow the prices at which I might at present undertake the passage:

And generally all silk goods, as gros de Naples, satins, gros des Indes, gros de Paris, jewellery, &c., for which articles prices would be to be determined, but certainly a great deal under your Custom-house duties." Now, certainly, could there be a more lucid exposition that you are not confering a benefit on the domestic manufacturer of this country, by imposing duties on the foreign manufactures, which can be avoided? Is it not clear, that it would be more beneficial to the domestic manufacturer that he should know the extent of the competition to which he is subjected; that he

should be aware of it, and not be subjected to an illicit, unseen competition, against which he can take no precautions ?"

The case of the straw-plait makers had called for the serious attention of Government: they were mostly women and children living in country districts; and on representations made on their behalf, the duty had been increased in the amended Tariff from 5s. to 7s 6d. in the pound: "But I wish to convince them of the delusiveness of that security they ask. At present the duty on the raw material in straw to be used in plaiting is not more than 1d. per pound; the duty on the manufactured article is the extravagant one of 17s. 6d. per pound. It is so light an article, that there are great facilities of introducing it. I give the House a practical proof of the manner of introducing it. Here is the straw introduced for manufacture, and this is subjected only to 1d. per pound on its introduction. [Sir Robert Peel here exhibited a small bundle of bleached and cut straw, about eight inches in length, and of the thickness of a man's wrist, neatly bound up, such as is seen in the straw bonnet shop-windows.] But in this straw, so intended to be introduced at such a very low rate of duty, is enclosed the article which is charged on its admission with a duty of 17s. 6d. a pound. Now observe" [Sir Robert Peel here tore the binding from one end of the bundle of straw, and from the centre of it took out a neat small roll of straw-plait, about the thickness of the thumb, which had been concealed inside the bundle.]

He next devoted a considerable portion of his speech to convincing those who feared the reduction of

the duties on live cattle, that their alarm was groundless. "In the first place, it was a mistake to suppose that the high rate of living in this country benefits any interest; and he illustrated his position by a reference to the poor-rate, which falls with peculiar severity on land. Some had urged that deference should be paid to the apprehension, however groundless; but it would be inconsistent with the part of a real friend to his country: to consult the apprehension of panic which you believe to be ill-founded, is like the case of high protective duties-it would be inviting the parties to rest on an unstable foundation. Even without the Tariff, there must have been a reduction in price at this time of the year; and another kind of reduction had been artificially produced. "If persons will insert advertisements in newspapers offering to supply populous towns with butcher's-meat from Hamburg at 3d. a pound, and if parties will not inquire into the fact, but take it for granted, and will sell their cattle in consequence, I cannot help it. A little inquiry would have shown them that the house with the fine German name at Hamburg does not exist at all (Laughter, and 'Hear, hear !')—and at present at Hamburg they would have found that they were paying 6d. a,pound for their butcher's-meat. My belief is, that interested parties, pretending a sympathy with the graziers, have inserted this advertisement and encouraged this panic, for the purpose of taking advantage of it and bringing cattle into the market. Had the English grazier been told fifteen years ago of the wonderful discoveries of steam and the inordinate increase