HC Deb 20 February 1824 vol 10 cc267-70
Mr. T. Wilson

, in rising to present a petition against the Wool Tax, said, he regretted that he was obliged to occupy the time of the House on such subjects; but, while such impolitic and oppressive taxes remained, the House would of necessity be continually besieged with petitions against it. The duty of 6d. a pound on foreign wool was one that could be only justified by the most pressing necessity, when every other object of taxation was exhausted. At the present moment, when the woollen manufactures of this kingdom had to come into competition in foreign markets with foreigners, who were subject to no such tax, and when the finances of the country could bear the loss of so inconsiderable a branch of revenue, the tax was utterly indefensible. The petition was from the merchants and factors of the city of London.

Mr. Robertson

observed, that the prosperity of the agricultural interest followed that of the commercial interest, and that unless every facility was given to the commerce of the country, the landed proprietors, though their situation was undoubtedly much more prosperous now than it had lately been, would soon be plunged into greater difficulties than they had yet experienced. If the growth of wool were, in any given year, one-tenth greater than that of an average crop, the price would fall 30 per cent., and if it exceeded an average crop by one-fifth, the price would fall 60 per cent. Formerly, large quantities of this commodity were exported, but now the grower could not export unless the price of his produce sunk to 25s. or 30s. It was as much for the advantage of the agricultural as for that of the commercial interest, that this tax should be repealed. Wools at from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. were formerly imported from the different countries of Europe, to the great advantage of the manufacturer of coarse cloth, which was the article of most general consumption. The existing duty on the importation of these wools almost amounted to a prohibition. Compare the price of labour on the continent with the price of labour in this country; add to that difference the amount of duty on importation, and we should then see the impolicy of this tax. At Aix-la-Chapelle, the price of labour was from 10s. to 12s.; in Silesia, it was 9s.: in Yorkshire, it was 16s. When to this difference in the price of labour was added the duty on importation of 20 to 25 per cent, he would ask, whether it was possible for the manufacturers of this country to compete with the manufacturers of the continent? It was morally impossible; and, in point of fact, this country had lost the greater part of the continental trade. Since the year 2822 the amount of our exportations in the article of wool had decreased upwards of one fourth. Our coarse cloths were, in fact, prohibited in consequence of this tax in Italy, where nothing but coarse wool was now grown. Germany supplied Egypt and Turkey with coarse cloths, which she shipped at Trieste and Leghorn, and had completely driven us from the market. He begged to call the attention of the House to the state of America, in order to show the expediency of taking off the duty on the importation of the raw material. The population of the United States, before they were declared independent, amounted to two millions and a half; at the present day, it amounted to ten millions. The population of the settlements of South America might be taken, at a low estimate, at seventeen millions; and if it went on increasing in the same ratio as that of the United States, might be expected to amount to 60 millions in forty years. Here was an immense mart for our low-priced cloths, of which this coun- try might avail itself, if the impolitic duties on the importation of the raw material were repealed. It was more especially incumbent on the landed interest to encourage the commerce of the country, on the prosperity of which depended their only real prospect of relief. The great mass of the population of South America of course consumed low-priced cloths; it was of the utmost importance, therefore, that a tax should be taken off which excluded our manufactures from a consumption which would be almost unlimited in its amount. Not only the states of South America, but our own possessions in Asia, comprehending a population of a hundred millions, would afford a market for our manufactures, for which we might obtain the raw produce in return. With respect to long wool, his own opinion was, that it would be desirable to keep it in this country, allowing the short to be exported; but, if the short wool were not allowed to be exported without taking off the duty on long wool, he should be ready to agree to the exportation of both those articles. He conjured the ministers, as they valued the staple trade of the country, to take off this tax, or else to be prepared for the rest of the world combining together for its utter destruction.

Mr. Alderman Thompson

deprecated the impolicy of imposing high duties on low-priced commodities. He concurred in the observations which had fallen from the hon. member, and thought the same arguments applicable to the duty on raw silk. He hoped the chancellor of the Exchequer would place that article on the same footing in which it was placed in France, by taking off the duty on importation.

Mr. Alderman Wood

observed, that unless the chancellor of the Exchequer consented to the repeal of the duty on the importation of wool, the manufacturers in this country had come to the resolution of employing agents on the continent to wash the wool, in order to effect a reduction of the duties. The right hon. gentleman would greatly mistake the true interests of the country, if he suffered this tax to continue a year longer.

Sir J. Wrottesley

called the attention of the House to the circumstances under which this tax had been imposed. They would all recollect, that, in the year 1819, when the country was in a state of pro- found peace, and also in daily expectation of aconsiderable remission of taxation, three million of new taxes were unexpectedly imposed upon it. Of this sum, part was raised by the imposition of a duty of 1s. 6d. a bushel on malt; and, as that tax was found detrimental to the agriculturists, it was thought proper to give them as a counterpoise to it, a protecting duty against the importation of foreign wool. Now, a considerable portion of the malt duty had already been taken off; and if the hon. member for the city would assist him in taking off the remaining sixpence, he would in his turn assist the hon. member to get rid of this tax on wool.

Ordered to lie on the table.