Commons Sitting of 17 June 1817

NEWFOUNDLAND TRADE.
Mr. M. A. Taylorrose to call the attention of the House to that most important subject, the state of the Newfoundland Trade; the extent and magnitude of which ought to render it an object of deep parliamentary solicitude. In this trade were employed no less than 800 vessels, navigated from this county, and manned by more than 6,000 men; who were thus educated for the naval service. It was a fact, highly deserving the attention of the House, that all the supplies of Newfoundland were derived from this country and Ireland. The returns made to Great Britain from this colony were very great. The fish caught and cured in two years, amounted, when sold in the European markets, to two millions sterling, all remitted in specie or bills of exchange; being the only description of our trade by which a return similar in kind was made to the mother-country. He disclaimed all hostility to government, or to the board of trade, in the motion which he was about to submit to the House. But he must press upon parliament the indispensable necessity of taking some vigorous steps to relieve the colony from the state in which it was at present placed. By the last accounts it appeared, that of a population of 60,000 persons, 5,000 were out of employ, and in a state of beggary. Famine and misery staring them in the face, they were prompted to acts of violence; they ransacked and plundered the warehouses; there was no security for the
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peaceful inhabitants by day or night, and provisions and other supplies were taken by force by the starving part of the population If not promptly relieved, the colony, in the ensuing season, would present a scene of horrible civil warfare. The merchants in this country, finding the trade of Newfoundland in so depressed a state, would not send out the ordinary supplies; and the place itself was incapable of any produce. Under these circumstances, it was most important that some legislative measures should be adopted for the support of the trade; for the trade of Newfoundland required capitals so large, that if once it was allowed entirely to sink, to revive it would be a matter of prodigious difficulty. One great cause of the depression of the trade was, the permission injudiciously given by treaty to the French to fish at Newfoundland. Another was the high duties imposed on the importation of the fish in Spain and Naples. Strong representations ought to be made on this subject to the kings of those countries, who having both been placed on their thrones by the arms of England, ought in gratitude to abstain from imposing on the Newfoundland trade a duty so high as to amount nearly to a prohibition. He could not frequently enough impress on the House, that this was no common trade; it was one vitally affecting the interests of England: it had always been so considered by the greatest statesmen, and yet it was left to dwindle unaided. The pilchard fishery was protected by a bounty, the whale fishery was protected by a bounty; but this most important trade was left without any protection. The French trade, on the other hand, was encouraged by bounties, which had nearly rendered the French our rivals in the markets of the Mediterranean. France gave a bounty' not only on the fish caught, but on the ships and men employed; thus pursuing a wise policy, which he strongly recommended to the adoption of our government. The hon. gentleman here read a list of the French bounties on their own Newfoundland trade, and a list of the Spanish importation duties on ours. Reverting to the large part of the population of Newfoundland unemployed, and perishing for want of food, he observed, that government had proposed to send 1,000 of them to Brunswick and New Canada. More might be sent thither with advantage. Their absence would relieve Newfoundland, and they would assist in clear-

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ing and settling the colonies to which they might be conveyed. There were various modes in which the difficulties under which the Newfoundland trade laboured might be mitigated, if not removed; but if no effort was made, that most valuable branch of our commerce must soon be at an end. Mr. Pitt, and afterwards Mr. Perceval, had shown themselves fully sensible of the importance of the subject; and had agreed to the grant of some bounties, the expense of which was as nothing, compared with the benefit derived from their operation. He concluded by moving, "That a select committee be appointed to inquire into the state of the Trade to Newfoundland, and into the situation of that settlement, and to report the same as it shall appear to them to the House."
Mr. Protheroeseconded the motion, eulogised the clear and impressive manner in which the hon. gentleman had represented the distressed state of Newfoundland, and urged the expediency of taking prompt means to relieve it.
Mr. Hart Davisfelt that the subject was worthy of the immediate attention of parliament, from the information he had received upon the subject.
Sir J. Newportthought, as the French were now giving to their fishery on these coasts a bounty, we could do no less. His constituents were deeply interested in the success of that colony, as much of the trade of Waterford consisted in exports to Newfoundland.
Mr. Goulburnconsidered that the state of Newfoundland called for immediate parliamentary attention, he should therefore not oppose the motion.
Mr. Wilberforceexpressed his acquiescence in the propriety of directing the attention of parliament to the distresses sustained by the inhabitants of this portion of the empire.
The motion was agreed to, and a committee appointed.