CONVOY BILL. (Hansard, 13 May 1814)

Mr. Canning
rose to state some facts, of which he had been apprised by his constituents. Since the period at which the Admiralty had put an end to the custom of allowing single ships, properly armed, to run to and from the West Indies, it had been expected that convoys would be more frequent; on the contrary, however, their number had greatly diminished. An application had been made for a convoy from the West Indies in February last, at which period there were 150 vessels ready with cargoes, to the value of three millions sterling. They had, however been detained, and the number of vessels was now 868 probably increased to 400. The arrival of so many ships at one moment, was productive of great inconvenience in the market. The suggestion of some of his constituents was that ships properly armed (that arming to be regulated by parliament) should be allowed to sail without convoy, or that the Admiralty should appoint convoys more frequently.

Mr. Rose
deprecated the introduction of any thing into the Bill, which might give to the Americans information calculated to facilitate their privateering expeditions against our trade.

§ Mr. Croker
expressed his persuasion, that the representation which had been made by his hon. friend (Mr. Canning) arose out of a misconception. Before the war with America, it had been sufficient to protect the trade in the Channel, no danger being to apprehended in America and the West Indies. Licences, therefore, to go north about were, at that period, granted by the Admiralty, with perfect family. On the breaking out of the American war, however, the case was changed. The American merchant ships were almost universally converted into privateers. The seas swarmed with thousands of them. Vessels then running from Liverpool, and the other western ports, merely ran to fall into the jaws of the enemy. Feeling this, the Admiralty refused to grant licenses; the only tendency of which was, the capture of the vessels to which they were granted. On the very night of the arrival of the American declaration of war, the revocation of all licences which had been granted was published in the Gazette. During half the year, it was impossible to blockade the American ports; and during the other ball, the blockade was necessarily very imperfect. The only hope, therefore, of keeping the American privateers within their ports, was, to withhold from them the expectation of a prey. The admiralty, therefore, established regular convoys; and the gentlemen interested in the West India trade having been invited to meet and made such arrangements as would suit their interest, and at the same time would not be incompatible with the public service, it was settled, that four convoys should sail annually from Spit-head, and four from Cork, for the West Indies, and that they should be placed within a fortnight to one another; so that the vessels who were accidentally too late for the one, might yet contrive to catch 869 the other. If it were asked, why the number of convoys was not greater, the answered would be, that the Admiralty (as he had before observed), not wishing to expose our commerce to any risk from the Americans, thought it wise to allow fewer convoys, but to make them all sate. Each convoy therefore equalled in force the whole American navy; the consequence of which was, that not a single merchant-ship had been taken which sailed under convoy, and that no convoy had been at all disturbed, except by weather. For this purpose, however, it because necessary to appoint for each convoy a line of battle ship, a frigate, and several sloops. Making allowance for several spare ships necessary to supply accidental deficiencies, the single service, therefore, of convoys to the West Indies required about 10 line of battle ships, 10 frigates, and from 20 to 30 sloops of war. The return of the convoys from the West Indies was equally simple and clear. They sailed at certain periods fixed by the trade. The Admiralty had wished those periods to be unalterably fixed; but the trade requesting that this might not be the case, our admiral on the West India station had orders to appoint a certain day for the sailing of the convoy, but to accelerate or retard its departure at the pleasure of the trade. It was undoubtedly true, as had been stated by his hon. friend, that one of these convoys had been detained. No letters had yet been received at the Admiralty, to account for his circumstance; but he had no doubt that when they did arrive the delay would be satisfactorily explained. As to the permission to vessels armed according to act of parliament to run, the consequence would be, that as soon as the Americans became aware of the force of those vessels, they would fit out others of larger force to incept them. The stoutest of our merchant vessels could hardly carry more than 20 guns and 50 men. Now, many of the American privateers, it was well known, carried 24 or 20 guns and 150 men. Thus inferior, the loss of our single vessels would be almost certain. It would be better that they should not be armed at all, for they would then be better able to run away. If any particular portion of the seas were to be exempted from the operation of the Convoy Act, the only consequence would be, that the Americans would flock thither—it would be their preserve. Such a step, however had been taken in circumstances 870 in which it was safe to take it. Immediately on the receipt of the Convention between Great Britain and Finance, orders were issued to suspend the operation of the Convoy Act, in the whole of the Mediterranean. It would also be suspended in the Baltic, were it not that the trade, with a view to insurance, wished it not to be so. But for that wish, it would be suspended in the Baltic, as long as there were no American privateers in that sea. It was undeniably the interest of the Admiralty to grant licences for running ships, instead of appointing convoys, for in the latter case they incurred a responsibility, from which in the former they were exempt; but their object invariably was, to adopt such measures on the subject as were best calculated to secure the commerce of the country.

Mr. Canning
, in reply, said, he had no doubt but the Admiralty would make the business as little onerous as possible, and therefore he would not at present further trespass on the time of the House.

§ Mr. Alderman Atkins
was extremely averse from allowing the Admiralty to have the direction of the commerce of the country. Another hardship was, that the Admiralty should have power to compel the merchants to give bonds; but, with the explanation given, he would not oppose the further progress of the Bill.

Mr. Canning
was of opinion, that if a clause was introduced to empower the Admiralty to issue a public notice of the licences to be given, and the places to which the ships were to go, it would remove many of the complaints which had been enumerated.

§ Mr. Croker
said, he was afraid much danger would arise from such a regulation, as notice would thereby be given to the American cruisers, where the ships to be licensed would be bound to. He was sorry to say, that there were persons in this country, and not a few of them, who were so lost to all sense of the amor patriœ, and to every principle of honour and honesty, as to convey on every occasion the speediest and most correct information with respect to the destination of every ship sailing with a license, which they contrived by some means or other to find out. It was not long ago that an American privateer had received such accurate information on this head, that she lay in wait for a particular ship by name in such a latitude as to be almost certain of falling in with her by a certain day. It so happened, 871 however, that she was taken by one of our frigates the day before; and the very next day our frigate, and the American cruiser, her prize, passed this very ship, which would have been captured by the American, had she not been antecedently deprived of the means of doing us this mischief.

Mr. Rose
said, he had no doubt but every accommodation would be given by the Admiralty to the mercantile interests.

§ Mr. Marryatt
said, licenses had been given by the Admiralty to several ships to go to Archangel; and the consequences were, that the friends of the American curisers had so effectually exerted their abilities in giving them information, that he saw no less than 18 of them on Lloyd's books, one morning, as prizes to the American privateers. He therefore thought the licenses, could not be kept too secret.
After a few words from general Gascoyne, the House was resumed, and the report ordered to be received to-morrow.