DIFFERENTIAL DUES ACTS. (Hansard, 20 February 1852)

§ MR. LABOUCHERE
said, he rose to more a Resolution, that a Bill be brought in to enable Her Majesty to abolish, under certain conditions, the differential duties on foreign ships. By the law as it at present stood, treaties of reciprocity with foreign countries, must be signed before terms of reciprocity could be granted. Now they had long been in communication with the Government of Spain upon this subject, with regard to which many just complaints had been made by our merchants, that English ships were not put on the same footing in their ports as Spanish ships in our ports. The Spanish Government had all along said they had nothing to do with English laws; that they were willing to agree to terms of reciprocity, but that they would not enter into any Treaty. Of late a diplomatic convention had been entered into on the subject, and the Government proposed to be allowed by this measure to make the agreement with them without a Treaty. He might, if it were necessary, state that this was not the first occasion when inconveniences had arisen out of the existing Act. A few years ago one of the South American States made the same difficulty, and he thought it would be obvious to the House that the meaning of the Act would be carried out if the advantages of reciprocity were allowed wherever Her Majesty received satisfactory evidence that our ships were treated in foreign ports on the same footing with the ships of other countries.

§ MR. HERRIES
said, he understood this measure to be one of form, and not of substance; that it was to do for Spain, 880 under a Convention, what the Act required to be done by Treaty. Under these circumstances, and seeing that the Bill was only a question of form, he had no objection to accede to the proposition of the right hon. Gentleman.

§ MR. LABOUCHERE
begged to state, that the Bill was not to be confined to Spain, but extended to other countries in similar circumstances.

§ MR. HUME
thought it was right this Bill should pass, but he complained that this reciprocity convention would throw upon the Consolidated Fund a sum of from 30,000l. to 40,000l., which had hitherto been paid by Spain. He thought they ought to take some steps to free themselves from this charge.