SALT LAWS BILL. (Hansard, 29 April 1817)

§ Sir C. Pole
opposed the bill in its present state, as calculated to throw 20,000 of his constituents, who were fishermen, out of employment, and drive them to commit smuggling and other illegal acts. He recommended that the subject should be considered by a committee above stairs, with a view to some modification that might remedy the evils with which the bill was fraught. Unless this were assented to, he should feel it his duty to move that the bill be read a second time on that day six months.

§ Sir W. Lemon
seconded the motion, and declared, that if the bill were to pass in its present state, the fisheries in Cornwall could not be carried on. If an opportunity were offered to the fishermen by the appointment of a committee above stairs, he was confident that they could show insuperable objections to the adoption of the measure.

§ Mr. Lushington
said, that the bill was intended not to oppress but to relieve the fisheries, by giving them the liberty to use rock salt, and thus bring to a certainty those experiments which had been successfully made in several instances. The bill was not founded on the representations of commissioners of excise, but on the evidence of persons interested both in the salt trade and in the fisheries. The trials which had been made led to a sanguine belief that rock salt was perfectly applicable to the purposes of curing and preserving fish. He thought it absurd 49 that the law should be suffered to remain as it was at present, depriving the fisherman, even if he were inclined, of the right to use rock salt in his business. The use of it for this purpose had been already found productive of the greatest benefit in the Isle of Man. The effect of the bill, therefore, he had every reason to believe, would be to bestow relief to the 20,000 constituents of the hon. baronet, instead of driving them out of employment.

Mr. Davies Gilbert
was not averse to that part of the bill which went to authorize the free use of rock salt in the fisheries, but he could not consent to the Prohibitory duties on foreign mine salt, f the latter clauses were withdrawn, his objections would be removed; but he must otherwise remain of opinion, that the bill ought to be referred to a committee up stairs.

§ Mr. Grenfell
was desirous that the farther consideration of this question should be postponed. In his opinion, the surrender of the whole of the duties on salt would have been a wise measure, even though the condition had been the continuance of the entire malt duties.

§ Sir T. Acland
thought the matters of detail necessarily involved in a question of this nature demanded investigation before a select committee, where all the evidence might be fully examined.

§ Mr. Finlay
concurred in the same opinion.

Lord Cochrane
recommended the removal of all restrictions on the refinement of salt; the consequence of which would be to render the importation of that article unnecessary.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer
expressed his willingness to allow the subjects respecting which there was so much difference of opinion, to undergo the examination of a committee above stairs. The question was whether the proper course would be to suspend the progress of the bill till the result of the inquiries of the committee above stairs could be known, or to transmit the bill in a perfect shape to the committee.

§ The Speaker
stated, that in point of form there were one or two instances of a perfect bill being sent to a committee up stairs, but this was not the general practice of the House, neither was it convenient. It would be better to suspend the progress of the bill through the House during the sitting of the committee above stairs.

§ Mr. Calcraft
said, that being perfectly satisfied with the impression which the agitation of this question had produced on both sides of the House, it was not his intention to trouble them with any additional observations during this session. In the next session, however, he hoped to be able, with the assistance of those hon. members who concurred with his sentiments on this subject, to relieve the public from this most grievous, unjust, and impolitic tax. At present, he was perfectly satisfied with what had been done, anticipating that they should obtain that benefit in the next session. He could not sit down, however, without disclaiming the intention of recommending any commutation for this tax; and, least of all, that any additional burthen should be imposed on the article of beer.